The Ties That Bind
by GAM3R G1RL 13
Summary: Five years later & another Highland Games tournament, Merida is faced with a new trial that she brought upon herself. Now she must use all that she has learned to save herself and her unwanted traveling companion from the dangers of the unforgiving Scottish highlands and the storms of war brewing in the South. Rating changed due to violence, some language and maybe future innuendo
1. Chapter 1

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

Five years have passed since the time of last Highland Games and the clan leaders and their kin gather for another chance to make merriment, take vows, and face challenges. However, there is a dark cloud overhead. The storms of change and war echo in the distance and those few who have the strength and fortitude, find themselves thrown in the midst of a battle unlike any they've ever seen.

For now though, the talk of war and invaders are long put out of the minds of the people. They wish to rejoice in their grand harvests' and good weather and possibly, celebrate a new alliance between DunBroch and one of the other clans.

Merida, now a blossomed 20 years old, sits beside her window strumming her lute, as the rain falls. Though it is not her favorite pastime, she obeys her mother's wishes, for once, and doesn't go into the forest on this day. The lords and their heirs, as well as the mightiest of their clans, would be arriving today to once again compete in the Highland Games, as her father now called them. This time though, there would be no competition for her hand in marriage, although her mother insisted upon some interaction with the young lords while they were guests in DunBroch.

Merida sighed as she played,

"I just know mother will somehow turn this into a marriage competition again."

"Talking to yourself again Merida, dear?" Elinor asked as she walked into the bedroom.

Forcing a smile, Merida gritted,

"Oh no, not me Mum."

Elinor shook her head at her daughter but didn't call her on her earlier statement, which she had heard perfectly. She did, however, have a problem with Merida's posture at the moment. Slouched over, leaning at an awkward angle next to the window, Elinor cringed at the thought of what her back would look like years from now if she continued that way. Clearing her throat, Elinor caught Merida's attention,

"Merida, must you slouch and hunch like that? A proper young lady sits up straight, tall as a pine and…"

"…and just as prickly too" Merida added, muttering .

Glancing down at her bored and slightly peeved daughter, Elinor scolded,

"I heard that."

Wincing, Merida glanced sheepishly up at her mother,

"When do you not hear what I say Mum?"

Smiling softly, Elinor took Merida's hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Only…never." Elinor teased. Merida laughed as well. Her mother and she still didn't always see eye to eye on certain things, but both had learned to listen and compromise with one another.

"Come now, dear one, we must meet the lords and their sons down at the docks. They will be here in a short while and will be expecting the princess to greet them from their voyages. Especially difficult since they've fought this horrid weather the whole way here, no doubt."

Merida sighed, but followed willingly after her mother.

Normally, Merida would fight tooth and nail against anything that remotely smelled like a marriage or courtship arrangement. In this case, however, Elinor had asked weeks in advance for Merida to spend a little time with the lords and the young lords, as well. According to the letter's that they had received months earlier, many of the clan leaders would be bringing their whole families this time, and Merida, ever curious, wondered if any of the other lords had young daughters about her age that would be there. As the time of the games drew closer, Elinor kept dropping, not so subtle hints about Merida, maybe choosing a husband, to which Merida argued that she would not. Merida wanted to please her mother, but continued to reassure her that no amount of time spent with the young men would change her mind. Elinor would smile at her in a knowing and motherly way, like she knew something that Merida didn't know, and it was in those little moments that Merida secretly wondered if her mother had magic powers or a seer's vision for her to be so sure of the upcoming events.

In the days leading up to the other clans' arrival Merida trained and ventured farther into the forests. Her skill with archery was well above exemplary and her sword skill was almost as good as her father's. Almost. She still wasn't sure she could best any of the young lords in the sword competitions but she was always willing to try, if her mother allowed her that is.

The Queen herself hadn't considered stopping Merida from competing in the games, this time around, but thought it best she not encourage her either. After all, her husband was doing enough of that for the both of them. King Fergus couldn't have been prouder of his eldest child. He had taught her the bow and how to hold a sword, but her skill came from years of personal practice and training. Dedication, that he was sure, his beloved Queen wished their daughter showed in her other areas of study. Regardless, he was happy if his family was happy and safe, and other than his boys causing a ruckus everyday, life in DunBroch was happy and safe.

The entire royal family arrived at the docks just as the first clan's men were arriving into port. Lord Dingwall was the first to arrive and unload, followed closely by the MacIntosh clan. Surprisingly, the last clan to arrive was Lord MacGuffin's. He and his son and clan were several hours delayed by the rough water storms and the waiting party moved back into the castle proper to await their arrival. Merida thought it odd that they would be so far behind the other clans, but decided not to dwell on such matters. The clans that had arrived already and her family met in the main dining hall of Castle DunBroch to wait for the late arrivals. Around the turn of the evening hour, MacGuffin's clan still was not present and everyone was worried.

The storms had picked up outside and the heavy rain beat down on the solid stone walls. Loud booms of thunder and bright flashes of lighting caused the entire hall to fall silent. Suddenly, a loud crash, followed by a heavy boom from the main gates caused the entirety of those present to jump in their seats. Even poor Merida placed her hand over her rapidly beating heart. The MacGuffin clan walked into the main hall, soaked to their bones and looking like they had just come from a fearsome battle.

King Fergus hailed them inside and called for his servants to bring fresh towels and dry clothes for them. The other clan lords rushed to MacGuffin's side and began questioning him profusely.

"Where have you been?" Dingwall questioned first.

"Why didn't ye arrive with the rest of us?" MacIntosh quipped second, and many more questions followed overwhelming Lord MacGuffin and his son.

Finally Elinor stepped in,

"My lords, perhaps we should allow the MacGuffin clan a night to rest and recuperate before we question them to oblivion and back. They obviously have had a very trying day and the storms were not easy on any of those that traveled here in them. Right now, I think it would be best if the presentation of the warriors waits until the morrow. We will not be going anywhere and we are safe inside from the storms tonight."

Merida shook her head at her mother's ability to command and lead so easily. She understood now, why it took all of the work she had to endure with her studies, but her mother made it look as easy as breathing. She herself was a little curious as to why the MacGuffin was so late in arriving. She simply figured that they had harsher weather to contend with and that is why they look so weather worn. Her father had told her before that fighting a ship against the mightiest of gales and storms is just as exhausting as fighting a battle alone against a hundred men.

King Fergus called for his servants to set up sleeping arrangements for the other clans and to prepare sleeping chambers for the lords and their sons. Merida stood,

"Well, goodnight then, Mum, Da'" she said as she stretched her aching muscles. She turned to her brother's who were in the process of stealing yet another plate full of cakes from Maudie. Crossing her arms and shaking her head she took the cake plate from Maudie and used that as leverage to corral her little brothers up to their room.

As she was walking up the stairs, glanced down and caught the eye of the young MacGuffin lord, who stared with hard unfeeling eyes at her. Chilled by the look she had received, she shivered and hurried up the stairs to her chambers.

"That was odd." Merida mused to herself.

After making sure her brother's were tucked in, she hurried down to her own room. Confusion and questions circling in her head. The night itself had played out strangely but the young lord MacGuffin's attitude had been the oddest thing of the night. Thinking back on it Merida remembered that Lord MacGuffin had looked downcast as he and his clan was tended too. Merida assumed that was mostly from being tired, but there was also a hint of sadness in his eyes that she couldn't place. The young lord had a different air about him though. He was not the same shy young man that had been presented before her at the last Highland Games. Still mostly silent, but this time it was a hard silence, not like the shyness of his smile and contradictory to his stature. Now he held himself tall and his silence was contemplative,

"Almost like he was studying everyone." Merida said to herself out loud.

"Talking to yourself again, dear?" a voice pulled Merida from her thoughts.

Startled, Merida jumped and reached for the dagger under her pillow. She calmed when she saw that it was only her mother standing in her chamber doorway.

"(Sigh)Merida, how many times do I have to tell you that a lady does not sleep with weapons under her pillow."

At this Merida rolled her eyes,

"Well mum, when I finally marry (if ever) then my husband will have a weapon ready, until then I want to be able to protect myself."

Right as the Queen started to argue, Merida continued,

"What if something happened and we were attacked in the middle of the night or what if I was being targeted by invaders? I'm not sure if I yelled for help that it would arrive in time to save me and I'm very attached to my life here, thank you very much."

Now it was Elinor's turn to roll her eyes,

"Alright Merida, I concede this time. You bring up some very valid points, but…" the Queen paused, "you have that flair for the dramatic, just like your father. Almost to the point of going overboard."

Merida grinned sheepishly up at her mother. Scooting over on the bed, Merida made room so her mother could join her. The two sat in silence for a few moments until Elinor questioned her,

"It seems strange…the MacGuffin clan, I mean. All the clans have about the same distance to travel so it's curious to me on why the delay. Surely the weather would not have held them up too badly. What do you think, dear?"

Merida shrugged as she sat back against the head of the bed.

"I dunno mum. Seems a little off to me, but Lord McGuffin seemed sad and more than a little upset when they finally arrived….It may have been a fight with the storms but I have a feeling there is more to it than that."

Elinor proudly, yet softly smiled at Merida,

"The very same thoughts occurred to me too, Merida. You are learning how to read people well. That may be a very good advantage in the weeks ahead."

Merida sighed and rolled her eyes again,

"Mother, I thought you said these games were not about me being wedded off?"

"They're not dear."

"Then, why do you insist that I spend so much time with the young lords, eh? Trust me, Mum, _**NO **_amount of time spent near, or with, those three, will magically elicit any kind of hidden emotions in me."

Elinor rose a finger to interject, but Merida never stopped,

"Seriously Mum, there can't be something hidden, when there isn't something there to begin with." Merida crossed her arms in a huff.

Elinor bowed her head and gave a long drawn out sigh. Shaking her head slightly, she stood and made her way over to the door to Merida's chambers. Stopping in the doorway she turned to look at her eldest child. Merida was a beautiful, fiery young woman, and as stubborn as her father, but she had a lot more to learn when it came to love and marriage. Merida's reasons were not currently unfounded, but they were untested and that was what Elinor was really trying to do.

Merida gave her mom a confused look after Elinor didn't say anything for about a minute of silent staring. Silence didn't bother Merida, it was being stared at that bothered her.

"Mum…?"

Elinor was pulled from her thoughts by the object of those very thoughts in front of her. Smiling soft and sadly, Elinor spoke,

"Merida, one day you will find love. It may not drop into your lap, it may not 'feel' right at first. In fact, you may hate that very person that you may eventually come to love. But whatever, however, and whoever you love, know and remember this, dear one: True love is based on compromise and balance. You will not always be happy, you will not always 'feel' like you love the person you are with, but if you had to, you would die for that person and do everything in your power to keep them happy and safe, and you know that, more than anything else, that the one you love would do the very same for you."

Merida sat there in silence absorbing all that her mother had just told her. The air in her room was thick and heavy now and it bothered her. Merida and serious weren't exactly two words that worked well together. Trying to lighten the mood, Merida chortled,

"Well, mum, thanks for all that. I'll be sure to file that away and lock it up for safe keeping."

Elinor shook head again and turned to go but stopped short again, one last thing on her mind before retiring to bed.

"One last thing Merida, marriage is a binding contract that ties you to another person for life, but love…love binds us together for far longer than this life will last." With that the queen turned and quietly closed her daughters bed chamber door and walked to her chambers down the hall.

Merida sat up in her bed and hugged her knees tightly. Her mother was speaking in riddles and waxing poetic now and that was something Merida couldn't fight against. Her mother always made sense when she was speaking from the heart because Merida thought that was the only time her mother was truly honest with her. She did love her mother dearly, but even after the whole Bear incident five years earlier, Merida and her mother would still find themselves at odds with the other. Maybe there was no way around it.

Merida had always been taught the rules and traditions of being a Lady and a Princess from her mother, but her dad had always taught her to never fear the unknown, how to fight and shoot a bow, and they frequently shared inside jokes and humor that her mother found deplorable. It was as if her whole life she had to internally and externally prove who and what she was to everyone and even herself. She was divided.

Was she the Princess Merida, a Lady of noble birth, born to the family DunBroch? Or was she the free spirit Merida, tested and tried in the wilds of the Scottish forests, called upon by the Wisps to change her fate?

As she pondered these things, her eyes began to droop. Contemplation of such heavy matters would have to wait until later. For right now, she needed to rest for the presentation of the suit….warriors tomorrow and then the kick off of the games.

Merida laid her head down on her pillow and closed her eyes. However, as she did the young lord MacGuffin's hard eyes came back into her mind. Cold and unfeeling, they stared her down as she walked up the staircase. She had never paid much attention to any of the would-be-suitors when they were here five years ago, but she remembered his posture and attitude the entire time.

The largest, physically, of the suitors, MacGuffin Jr. had about the same stature as her dad, but he lacked the confidence and leadership her father had so that made him appear smaller than he actually was.

'Tonight, though, looking into his eyes, chilled me to the bone. He looked so hard and stern, not the wee, timid bairne he had been those years ago. Maybe, he's seen even more battles since and they have forced him to mature.'

Angry with herself for not being able to go to sleep and unfairly angry at the young lord MacGuffin for being the reason for her lack of sleep, she sat up forcefully in bed and groaned.

"Aahhgghh! Merida, get a hold of yourself, you need your sleep and this isn't getting you any closer to answers, just more questions! And why is this even important?" she ranted.

"Maybe, he was angry that they had to travel in bad weather? Maybe he hadn't wanted to come and his father made him?" Merida argued with herself.

" Maybe, maybe…maybe it had nothing to do with me and I just caught his gaze at a bad time." She whispered quietly to herself.

Finally she had calmed herself down enough that she was able to lay in bed and force her thoughts away from tomorrow and the young MacGuffin lord for a short while.

'Maybe I should talk to mum about this tomorrow?' she thought as she drifted off to sleep. Her last thought before sleep took her,

'Better not, don't need her getting any strange idea's in her head.'


	2. Chapter 2

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

Shae MacGuffin sat on the edge of the makeshift bed. His weight caused the bed to sag and bow in the middle so he couldn't get comfortable. It didn't matter to him. As far as he was concerned this entire trip was a waste of time. He should be out preparing soldiers for incoming invaders or standing lookout for Viking warships in the towers back home. This was a frivolous waste of time and he didn't like it one bit.

His father tossed in his sleep and snorted. He looked over at his father and glared, annoyed that his father, once again, had interrupted his thoughts. Shae sighed, sitting here in the dark room was not going to help him think or sleep. Quietly and more deftly then most men his size could, Shae snuck out of the room and headed down the hallway. He wasn't exactly sure of where he was going but walking the castle seemed to clear his mind.

Five years ago he and the other clans were taken on a wild goose,…or bear, chase throughout the castle. Never mind that it was all the princess' fault and the they had ended up trapped on the tower roof with no way down. Well, they did get down, but not without embarrassment. Shae shook his head. That was not something to think about right now. He was trying to find the way to...to…to where? He hadn't had a destination in mind when he set out, he usually never did, but he didn't want to get stopped by a palace guard and thought a fool for wandering late at night.

Somehow, Shae ended up in the kitchen. It was moderate sized and not as elaborate as the one in Castle Macintosh. He wasn't paying attention to where he was stepping and missed the first step, sliding the rest of the way down.

'This one's not as safe either." He muttered to himself.

Soft, faint chuckling started in the far corner.

Shae's head snapped towards the noise and he stood. He had left his sword and dagger back in the room with his father, so he reached out and picked the first object he could find to use as a weapon. That object happened to be a cooking pan.

'Better safe, than sorry.' He thought to himself.

A soft gasp and the chuckling noise stopped. He had startled whoever it was when he grabbed the pan. Realizing how ridiculous he looked, a grown man holding a pan over his head for protection, he placed the pan down on the table and sat down in a chair close by.

"Come on out, dunnae be afraid. I won' 'urt ya." He muttered.

Shae hated the fact that when he was tired, his thick brogue accent came back and he was hard to understand again. He had worked very hard over the last five years making sure his speech was good enough for the other clans to understand him.

A quiet voice pulled him from his thoughts and he looked up,

"You're a lot easier to understand than five years ago, Lord MacGuffin."

Shae smiled with pride at this , but then just as quickly it was gone again.

"Lord MacGuffin is my father." He spat, then added, "My name is Shae, and just whom may I be speaking to?"

The voice in the darkness stepped into the little bit of light that there was and the very first thing that Shae noticed, was the mass of curly, unruly red hair that adorned the head of the chuckler. The next thing he noticed was that it was one of the three young sons of Queen Elinor and King Fergus. The boy had a pale face, but a bright demeanor, if a little on the quiet side for one of the three devils.

'Maybe he was being quiet so he wouldn't get caught though' Shae argued in his head.

Staring at the man before him the boy cocked his head to the side,

"My name is Harris."

"Well, Harris, what are you doing down here so late, all alone? You could get in trouble for not being in bed asleep. I know I would be, especially if my mum had ever found out."

Shae almost laughed at the blanched look on poor Harris' face, but decided against it when Harris started shaking.

"'You won't tell me mum, will you? Please Shae you can't! I'd never hear the end of if from Hamish and Hubert!"

Shae lifted an eyebrow,

"You'd be more worried about what your brothers do and say then getting in trouble by your mother? "

Harris looked away, angry and upset.

"My brother's constantly pick on me and tease me, because I'm the youngest. I'm only a few hours behind them, but they feel like that makes them better 'an me, I guess."

Shae's puzzled face softened at the young lad. He knew what it was like to be picked on for being different and younger. He was the oldest of Lord MacGuffins' son's, but he had been one of the last young warriors to begin his training. He hadn't been the swiftest learner either and being as large as he was acted as a handicap for him during his early training years.

Harris shuffled a little, not sure what to do. Finally, Shae smiled at him,

"What do you say we share a few snacks and swap some stories…" lightening flashed and the thunder crashed in the breath of the distance, "…and try to ignore the storms outside." Shae tilted his head in the direction of the window.

Harris smiled and nodded vigorously. Soon, the pair had gobbled down a half a dozen of Maudie's cakes and were each working on another when another voice joined their "party."

"You know, I expect behavior like this from the boys, but I thought mum had trained ye better da'. " Merida's teasing whisper reached both sets of ears. Dumbstruck, Shae sat there with his back to her for a few seconds before turning to face her. Harris had to bite his tongue to keep from busting up laughing at the absurdity of the situation and Merida, who currently stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, tilted her head to the side in confusion at this revelation.

Shae didn't look happy to see her, and any jovialness that he and Harris had shared, was lost the moment she had made her presence known. Standing slowly, he squared his shoulders and turned to face her.

"I know I'm a large man, but I would think that even a _**Princess**_ could tell her father, the _**KING**_, from a regular plain man any day."

Merida cocked a brow at him,

"A'right, so? You were in the shadows and I mistook you for my father, what is the prob…" Realization hit her again, " Wait! I can understand you?" she pointed a finger in his face.

Shae slammed his palm against his face in semi-mock disbelief. Harris jumped up and put a finger to he lips in a shushing motion and pointed towards the staircase.

"Shhhh….mum will skin us all if we dunnae be quiet."

Shae snapped his attention back to young lad he had been sharing a snack with and nodded in understanding, then turned to face Merida again his expression just as hard as it had been earlier that evening.

"Well, considering it's almost morning, and we have a very _long_, eventful day ahead, I suggest we all head to our rooms for some sleep."

Merida found her own gaze becoming harder with each passing second, her eyes staring into his. Merida curtly nodded and turned to face her brother, a strained, forced smile on her face.

"Yes, that would be best. Come along Harris, I need to get you back into bed, before mum finds you and I get in trouble…again."

With that, Merida turned and stalked out of the kitchen. Harris had watched the exchange with a puzzled expression, but knew his sister was now in a foul mood and it had something to do with his new friend Shae. He didn't want to anger her even more, so he started to gather up his mess but Shae stopped him. Leaning down, Shae whispered,

"I'll take care of it lad. Best follow 'er now."

Harris nodded to him and followed his older sister. Shae followed them to the staircase and as the brother and sister headed up the stairs Shae called out, quietly,

"Harris," he waited for Harris to turn around, "I'll be cheering you on tomorrow at the games." He said with a ghost of a smile.

Harris beamed down at him,

"And I'll cheer for you, too Shae!" he whispered excitedly, and rushed the rest of the way up the stairs, past his sister.

Merida watched this little exchange perplexed. Although the MacGuffin lord had the harshest of gazes on her, his eyes softened while talking to her little brother. Why? She must have had a strange look on her face, because Shae stiffened and snarled,

"I dunnae think I need to wish you luck, Princess. You've already proven yourself enough, right?"

Merida glared daggers at him, but never spoke a word. Finally tired of their silent psychological battle Shae turned and walked back to the kitchen. Merida huffed and headed back to her room, being ever so careful, as to not wake her mother or father.

Just when she thought she was home free, Elinor popped her head out of her bed chamber.

"Ahem."

Merida cringed, sighed, bowed her head in defeat, and turned to face her punishment.

"Yes, mum?" she muttered.

Still looking down, she didn't notice her mothers grin,

"Where's my cake?" Elinor asked innocently.

"Oh, mum!"

From inside her parent's bed chamber she heard her father chuckle lightly as Merida headed back to her room.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Morning came all to soon for Merida. The bright morning sun awakened her from her slumber and the swallows that nested outside her window annoyed her to the point that she had to arise from bed. It was a good thing too, her mother came barging in not ten minutes after she had crawled out of bed. Making sure that Merida was presentable to the court, Elinor chose which dress she was to wear for the opening festivities of the day. It was a fuss and fight all the way down to that throne room that morning, but both Merida and Elinor knew that it would be alright, in the end.

Merida begrudgingly allowed her mother to choose a moderately form fitting dark navy satin gown with silver tresses and ornate Celtic design work on the hems. Merida hated these kinds of dresses because they didn't allow her the freedom of her more "open" dresses, but Elinor insisted that she could change after the opening ceremonies.

"At least I can be grateful for that." Merida scoffed.

"Oh, hush now dear, you look gorgeous." Elinor scolded and contined,

"It wouldn't kill you to dress the part of a princess every now and then. The young lads would all fall flat on their tuffs…I mean, faces, to see you dressed like this ."

Merida chortled at her mothers slip up in word choice. That was one thing Merida loved about her mom, even if she did have years of training and proper etiquette lessons, her father had definitely rubbed off on her mothers attitude.

Elinor finished the two small braids in Merida's hair and moved to pull them behind her head. Merida's unruly locks were inherited by her father, but she never complained. Elinor, on the other hand, always found it difficult to work with such hair. Elinor finished with Merida's hair and stepped back to look at her handiwork.

Merida rolled her eyes,

"Mum, I feel like a piece of artwork, the way you're starin' at me."

Elinor chuckled lightly,

"You know Merida, most young women your age would love to catch a rooms attention like that." Elinor fussed over her hair and dress some more.

"Well not me," Merida argued, puffing a loose hair out of her eye, "If I catch any attention, I want it to be for my skills in battle and competition, not for how I look in this, or any other, dress." She motioned to herself.

Elinor sighed and shook her head. There was simply no way to convince her daughter otherwise. If Merida ever found love, Elinor somehow knew it would have to be on a battlefield and not in a castle feast or festival. She was too stubborn for that.

Merida gave a cheeky grin,

"Besides mum, why would I want a rooms attention? Rooms make very poor company and I'm sure you can't marry one anyway."

Exasperated, Elinor rolled her eyes and lightly smacked her daughter on the back of her head.

"You know what I meant!" Elinor walked to the door and motioned for Merida to follow.

"Come on, your father and the other lords are already gathered in the main hall."

The opening presentations drawled on and the younger generations were growing impatient with every passing minute. After the introductions of the Lords, two of the triplets tuned most of the names out. Hamish and Hubert tried to bide their time, and look for an easy escape route. When they were younger it was easier to slip away, undetected, but three, almost 10 years old boys were a lot easier to spot. Harris seemed at ease, even during these long discussions and presentations. Partly due to the fact that he sat in a chair on the opposite side from his other brothers, next to his sister Merida.

Hamish and Hubert were not slow or uneducated by any means, but they took more to the field and battle knowledge than to politics and book learning. Harris on the other hand, loved spending time with his mother and sister, although he was certain, he enjoyed the lesson's more than his sister did.

"Ppsspptt, " Merida whispered down to him.

Harris turned to face her and she continued,

"How long do ya' think Lord Dingwall can talk up his son?"

Harris grimanced and whispered back,

" 'E's at the ten minute mark already."

Merida had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Harris continued,

"But if given enough time, I suppose he would brag on his son until…forever. Not sure how much of this is true or not, though."

Merida hummed in agreement.

"And finally, Colin was able to restore balance to the force by defeating the dark wizard and giving each person three wishes from the magic pixie dust, and by giving select children, a golden ticket to help them achieve their dreams." *

The entire hall was completely silent. Even the other members of clan Dingwall looked confused with each other.

Merida and her brother shared their own looks of disbelief with each other.

"Alright then," Fergus drawled, "Thank you Murdoch, for that very amazing and…." Pause, "…unbelievable story. I'm sure we are all eager to see how Colin competes in the Games this year."

Another brief pause and finally King Fergus called the MacGuffin clan to step forward. Lord Kenneth MacGuffin slowly stepped forward. Gone was the swagger of pride and confidence of the man that had presented his eldest son only five years earlier. Now he appeared a hollow man, somber and contrite, but he still had his ability to lead.

Shae watched his father throw on airs as he began to exaggerate on Shae's exploits for the MacGuffin clan. Kenneth stood tall and held his head high as he caught his son's eye. Shae stood stoic as ever, this time not even giving his father the satisfaction of him confirming what he was saying, by breaking a log with his hands. The one he had broken in half five years ago had already rotted inside and was as easy as a twig to snap. Besides, he didn't need to prove that he was strong to know he was strong.

Duncan, Lord MacIntoshs' son had shown off his war scars and again tried to impress the others with his sword play. And Colin had just stood there, lost in his own mind while his father bragged on him.

'There was no way that Colin had done hardly any of what his father boasted of' Shae thaought and shook his head, 'and what in the world was a dark wizard ?'

But regardless of the boasting and bragging, none of it had intrigued the princess or her father Shae had noted. Not that he cared what the princess thought, he was here because his father made him not because it was his choice. Still it was nice to know that she still had a somewhat level head, he supposed. He still hated her, but even he wasn't stupid enough to insult another's intelligence when it was there.

Shae came out of his thoughts just as his father was wrapping up his own spiel about him.

"Shae was able to single handedly drive those monsters back into the sea."

Kenneth finished with a proud flair, clamping his hand on his son's shoulder and shook him a little. When he had finished his boasting, both Shae and Merida rolled their eyes at Lord MacGuffin's exaggerated story.

Shae jerked his shoulder forward, causing his father to let go and pull back slightly. Lord MacGuffin knit his brow in confusion as his son stepped forward. The entire MacGuffin clan was silent when the young lord stepped forward, unsure of what he would do.

"Fellow clansmen and kin, you'll forgive a father's boasting, I'm sure." Shae's strong voice echoed in the halls. Every eye was on him in disbelief, mostly due to the fact they cold understand him, but also due to the fact that this was a break in tradition. Shae understood this , but if the 'princess' could break tradition, why couldn't he?

"My father exaggerates on my exploits greatly. I didnae drive any monsters back on my own. I commanded a small force of around 70 men, most of which died under my leadership." Shae spat at himself.

" Viking, warships had come ashore carrying 300 warriors, and our villages were defenseless against the invaders. My father was in the Southern portion of our lands, and with the help of clan Dingwall, drove out the southern tribes at had invaded there. That left me and my two oldest, younger brothers to lead the forces in protecting our home."

Shae paused and took a breath. He squeezed his eyes shut to force back the tears that he didn't want anyone to see.

"Needless to say, we were successful,…but not without cost." He finished quietly. Shae bowed his head for only a second to collect his thoughts and then stood up straight once more and squared his shoulders.

"That is why, I feel that I should not compete in these games. It would be dishonoring for me to not grieve for my clansmen with out the proper amount of time. " Shae declared.

Lord MacGuffin gasped, wide eyed at his sons' declaration. He sputtered and frantically looked for support from the rest of his clan. They offered him none and he caught the eye of the Queen, who seemed shocked as well.

All the other clans were speechless as well. Everyone looked back and forth between each other, not really knowing what to say. Finally, Hubert, the middle son of King Fergus, confused by the situation asked,

"So,… why is it big deal for him to not compete? That's just one less competitor that the other clans have to worry about." He shrugged.

Merida hit her face with her palm and leaned forward to look down the row at her two other brothers.

'And that is why they are both utterly hopeless sometimes.' Merida groaned in her head.

Fergus, finally collected himself from his shock and stood up. He slowly made his way over to the MacGuffin lad and towered over him.

Shae never once faltered his stance or his determination. Fergus eyed the young man up and down. He harrumphed,

"Hmph, well now lad, what makes you so sure you wouldn't be dishonoring them by not competing, eh?" Fergus crossed his arms over his chest.

For a fraction of a second, Shae's focus shattered and he slightly turned his head towards his King to look him in the eye. Fergus saw a look in the man's eyes that begged him not to fight his request. Again, Fergus hummed to himself, sizing up the young warrior in front of him. Fergus wasn't usually one to give in without a fight so he offered another option.

"I think that you should compete. I think that if you allow the rest of your clan to compete in the games without you that would be worse then not remembering their sacrifice at all." Fergus paused,

"What say you now, lad? Do you still wish to withhold the honor of competing for those that are still with you? And do you wish to dishonor the memories from your fallen friends by not fighting for them?"

Stepping away from the young lord, Fergus turned and addressed the whole hall,

" Fellow clansmen and dear friends, we compete out of tradition, out of reverence to our old ways, in honor of our individual clans, and out of respect for those who can no longer share in our revelry. These games mark a right of passage for our young warriors, both men…" he turned to look at Merida, who was listening to every word and smiling brightly at him, "…and women. And they also mark our history, a time where we are no longer the feuding separate clans, but united fighting under the banner for the Highlands!"

The entire hall erupted in shouts and cheers at their kings words.

Shae looked at his king with a new sense of honor and respect. He still didn't want to compete in the games, but he wouldn't let his clansmen down, again, because of a selfish act.

'Not unlike someone I can think of.' He thought disdainfully.

Fergus turned back to Shae, all seriousness now gone from his face and demeanor.

"So lad what will it be? Will you compete or just sit on the sidelines like a wee babe?"

Shae couldn't help but crack a smirk at the joke at his expense. He had asked for it, after all. Nodding slightly to his king, he confirmed,

"Aye, I will be competing for Clan MacGuffin."

He silently added,

'But not because I want too.'

Fergus gave a big grin and laughed, finally breaking the tense mood that had fallen in the hall.

"Well now, that settles that" Fergus directed his attention to the entire room again.

Clapping his hands together he roared,

"A'right lads! **Let the Games Begin!**

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Thank you to all who reviewed the first chapter and the many, many story and author alert's notifications that flooded my email inbox. I hope part two has started wheels turning in your heads and question's flowing.

I don't remember which reviewer it was that found my one inconsistency from chapter 1 but I hope that the little exchange between Harris and Shae made up for it.

I must fully confess, when I wrote chapter 1, I had developed and matured all the characters in my mind _**EXCEPT **_the brothers. I apologize whole heartedly for that mistake, but major props to everyone who spotted it.

* "And finally, Colin was able to restore balance to the force by defeating the dark wizard and giving each person three wishes from the magic pixie dust, and by giving select children, a golden ticket to help them achieve their dreams" *

*I have another confession, I could not think of any kind of outlandish, yet realistic sounding feats that the Lord's would talk up there sons over and since I love picking on the Dingwall clan I just thought of a completely ridiculous scenario that toyed with modern movie and book pop culture. Plus I through in the shout out to the Dark Wizard because Robbie Coltrane, who voices Lord Dingwall in Brave, also played Hagrid in all of the Harry Potter films.

*crickets chirp*

(hangs head)Yeah, I know, I'm ashamed of myself too.

Please let me know what you think of Shae and his character development. Is he too one sided to be a good character, or does he show that there are layers to his personality? He is going to be a very complex character to write and I hope that I can convey that without making him seem like he's bipolar, or crazy.

I have one more thing to add: During the course of writing this story I knew that I wanted to pick names that had significant meaning to the characters. Listed below I have all of the names of the characters from the movie with the first/given name I have chose for them along with the translation and the origin.

Character name **Story (first) name** _Origin_ "Meaning"

Men/boys:

Young Lord MacGuffin **Shae**_ Gaelic_ "admirable"

Harris DunBroch** Harris** _variation of Harrision_ "son of Harry"

Young Lord Dingwall** Colin** _Scottish_ "whelp/young warrior"

Young Lord MacIntosh **Duncan** _Gaelic_ "brown warrior"

Lord MacGuffin **Kenneth** _Scottish_ "fair(haired)one"

Lord Dingwall **Murdoch** _Scottish/Gaelic_ "sea warrior"

Lord MacIntosh** Lorne** _Scottish_ "fox"

Hubert DunBroch **Hubert** _Old German_ "bright intellect"

Hamish DunBroch **Hamish** _variation of James_ "he who supplants"

Fergus DunBroch **Fergus** _Gaelic/Scottish_ "Supreme Choice"

Angus (Horse) **Angus** _Gaelic/Scottish_ "one/unique choice"

Character name ** Story (first) name** _Origin_ "Meaning"

Women/Girls:

Merida DunBroch **Merida** _Latin_ "one who has achieved a high place of honor"

Elinor DunBroch **Elinor** _French of Helen_ "bright and shining one"

Maudie **Maudie** _Old German (v) of Matilda_ "mighty in battle"

If, and when, I use any OC's in upcoming chapters I will do the same thing again. I like to know where names come from, what they mean, and what does a name say about a character. so I thought it would be nice to pass it to you. I will also be using real locations in Scotland and not just ones related to the movie Brave.

Thank you all and I hope I didn't overwhelm you with lots of information. Have a restful and peaceful time until we meet again.


	3. Chapter 3

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

Warning: This chapter jumps around from character to character a lot. I hope I didn't make it too confusing.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

The earth, soaked from the heavy rains from the day and night prior, gave way to standing mud holes and soft, marsh-like ground. That didn't dampen the spirits of those competing in the games, though. As soon as the king had given the go ahead, the games were in full swing. The first round of events would determine which clans and which of the competitors from each clan would be allowed to compete for the leader standings in each competition.

Merida was also excited about this day. This time, she would actually be allowed to compete in the games, instead of being stuck cheering on the sidelines.

As Merida walked through the tournament grounds, she pondered her brother's involvement, or lack thereof, in the games.

'That reminds me…' she thought, as she headed over towards the young competitors circles. She needed to find two of her brothers and that would be the best place to find them.

Spotting Hamish, she walked briskly over to him, avoiding his wild sword swings.

"Careful, Hamish. You need to hit the practice dummy, not the walking red one." Hubert, the middle of the triplets, teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him as she approached them.

"Oh, yeah. Really mature for our big 'princess' of a sister." Hamish remarked at seeing her facial expression.

"Well what kind of big sister would I be if I didn't come and pick on you. Besides, _**your**_ brother started it." She playfully growled, knuckling Hubert on the top of the head.

Hubert grimaced at his sisters ministrations.

"I'm_** YOUR**_ brother too, Meri…duh."

"Yeah! We both are. " Hamish argued.

Merida threw her hands up, rolled her eyes and groaned,

"Only if I _have_ to claim you devils."

They shook their heads at their sister's teasing, but she apparently wasn't done with them yet. Merida's playful demeanor changed in an instant, and in that moment, the two brother's knew something was wrong.

Merida now stood with her arms crossed in front of her, leaning forward slightly, a hard look in her eyes. Hamish and Hubert audibly gulped. They had seen that look before. It was the "pre-mom" look, as they had dubbed mother had spent more time with Merida and Harris while they were growing up, so they were reprimanded more from Maudie and their father. Both of which were big softies and easy to break with a well placed teary eye or sad puppy face.

Their sister, on the other hand, had developed a knowing, and firm look that told the triplets that she meant business. Whenever something went really bad with one of their pranks, it was usually always Merida that would get onto them for it. Unless, of course, it was Queen Elinor, and usually, then, Merida would help defend them from their mother's punishment. They decided a long time ago that their sister was very fickle in her attitude's towards them, but they wouldn't have had it any other way.

But even so, they knew that if Merida was giving them, "the look", then something, or someone was in big trouble.

Hamish was the first to speak after the silence.

"Is everything alright, sis? You have a look about you right now."

Hubert nodded,

"Aye, tis true. And whatever it is, we didnnae do it."

Merida raised a brow and looked at them unbelieving.

"Well, if you didnnae do it, then why did you deny it so fast? You don't even know what IT is, yet."

Before Hubert could say anything else, Hamish clamped his hand over his brother's mouth.

"What he meant was that we haven't done any thing to get in trouble over today, sis. So whatever is the matter, it isn't our fault this time."

Merida never let up her hard stare, or her unbelieving eyes.

"Oh, this didn't happen today. It was last night….around midnight. I found Harris in the kitchen all alone and upset….again."

Hubert's brows knitted together,

"Hey now! That's not true! Harris said that the young MacGuffin lord came in and kept him company."

"Yeah, said they were fine, 'til you showed up, that is." Hamish finished.

Merida's jaw dropped,

"He said,…what?"

"Yeah, told us the young lord was lot's of fun, but when you showed up, he said it was like he became a different person." Hubert nodded.

Merida started to ponder what else Harris had told them, but she didn't have to wonder long. Hubert and Hamish glanced at each other and then back at their sister, devious smirks on their faces.

"That wasn't all he said. He told us you thought the young lord….was, da!" They burst into laughter. Merida's face turned as bright red as her hair and she swatted at them.

"A'right A'right! It's true! Okay! Look it was in the dark and his back was turned. Would you just drop it?" In a frustrated tone she tried to explain.

After she had calmed herself down, she turned her attention back to the laughing boys in front of her.

"You never did explain why Harris was in the kitchen last night. It couldn't have been anything you did or said to him, now was it?" she asked accusingly.

The boys laughter stopped immediately and they became solemn. They both looked down, guilt evident on their faces. A split second later, both heads pop up and each points at the other, making excuses.

"It was all his fault!" Hubert pointed to Hamish.

Hamish balked,

"Nuh uh,…I wasn't the one that called him a coward and dared him to go to the kitchen last night."

"Yeah well, I didnnae tell him that he was useless at a fighter because he's too weak!" Hubert yelled.

Hamish gasped and Hubert clamped his hand over his own mouth at that. Merida gaped at her brother's, unbelieving at what they had just said. She didn't usually get real angry with her brothers, but she was really protective of the youngest, and that information had caused her to seethe.

Before she lost her temper, she calmed herself again. She spoke slowly, to prove how serious and angry she was, without blowing up at them. They were still her brother's too, after all.

"Alright boys. I will only say this one time. Stop teasing Harris about that. I won't tolerate it, and you both neither would mum or da'. Stop picking on him just because he's younger and smaller than you." Merida reasoned.

"…and weaker." Hubert added.

"…and sick." Hamish finished in a muttered voice.

Merida snapped her head towards him and glared,

"Hamish!" she half screamed, frustrated with them.

"Well it's true!" Hamish defended, "You, mum, and da' try to go on like nothing is wrong but he's our brother…we know when something is wrong with him."

Merida looked at the two young boys that stood in front of her. She saw the pain in their eyes and the worry for their other brother. She also felt it, but there wasn't too much she knew how to do to help them or him. Her harsh gaze was replaced by a soft one. She placed her hands on their shoulders to pull them both into a side hug, at the same time.

"Look, I know you try to include him, but right now you need to lighten up on the teasing. It's not making him feel any better, and if mum had caught him last night, you two would be the ones in trouble."

The two hung their heads.

"We're sorry." They said in unison.

Merida sighed, hoping her brothers wouldn't' continue to give each other grief, but knowing this wasn't the end of it.

"It's alright boys. I just donnae want you to hurt each other. We are a family and we are the only one we have." she whispered to them.

"Yes sis." Again in unison.

She hugged them each and wished them luck in the junior level games and turned to leave. Before she walked away though, Hamish decided to tease her some more.

"So, will you be cheering for the young Lord MacGuffin in the competitions? You seem to have a bond of some sort already." He snickered.

Merida's cheeks flushed and she turned in anger.

"No! I will not be cheering for that overgrown jack'n'ape! And I'll thank you two to keep out of my business!" With that she stormed off.

Hubert called after her,

"Just strange that you'd mistake him for da'."

"Shut it!"

Hamish and Hubert burst into laughter again as their older sister stormed away.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Duncan MacIntosh couldn't have been more ready for the games. He had doubled up his training specifically for theses games. He was always ready to showcase his own prowess, of that, there was little doubt, but the games gave him an opportunity to shine in front of the other clans. The games also gave him a chance to shine in front of the King and the royal family of DunBroch. Five years ago, during the first major games, the princess had shown them all up at the archery tournament. This time, however, even though they were not competing for her hand, he was still making it is goal to catch her eye in the games.

As Duncan had been pondering on these thoughts, Merida, that very princess her was thinking about, stomped past him in a huff. Gathering his wits about him, he followed after her.

"Princess! Princess wait!" he called

He reached out for her arm and took her wrist, stopping her dead in her tracks. She turned on her heel and eyed him angrily.

"Can I help you Lord MacIntosh?"

"Duncan."

"Pardon?" she raised a brow.

"You can call me Duncan. There's no need to be formal after all. Right?"

"Alright Duncan, you have my attention, now…could you let go of my arm please?"

Looking down, Duncan realized he still had a hold of her wrist. Even though he was enjoying the softness of the touch, he decided that he had better let go, before she _made_ him let go.

"Oh, right. Sorry…." He stuttered and dropped her wrist.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. He was the heir and scion to the MacIntosh clan, not some pup that had never wooed a lass before. He had women falling over him, not the other way around.

Merida stepped back from him as he gazed at her. She was always uneasy about being stared at, especially by any of the young men. It unnerved her to imagine what they were thinking about when they stared at her.

"Was there something that you needed?" she thumbed in the direction of the stables, "I do have things to do before the archery competitions."

Duncan shook himself out of his thoughts,

"Right, well,…I wanted to know if you would watch me while I compete in the games." He requested.

Merida raised a brow,

"Why wouldn't I? We'll be competitors during some of the games, after all."

Duncan rolled his eyes,

"No, I meant…during the games you don't compete in. Would you come and cheer me on while I compete?" he flashed his winning smile at her.

"Uhhh…." Merida looked unsure at him.

"Sure," she dragged, "I suppose I could do that."

Duncan's grin grew wider,

"That's grand! I will see you at the caber field later, then!" Then he was off, with a brisk walk and bounce in his step.

Merida watched him go with a confused look on her face,

"What just happened here?" she asked herself.

Brows furrowed, she thought back on the whole interaction from start to end. Realization hit her and she smacked herself in the face with her palm.

"Oh for the love of…what have I gotten myself into?" she groaned.

"So the princess has chosen a suitor, then? Does that mean Dingwall and MacGuffin are off the hook?" spoke a voice behind her.

Merida turned on her heel, meeting the eyes of Colin Dingwall. He was leaning against a tent post, eying her curiously. First, she was stunned that he has spoken so clear and precise. Second, she was unsure of his motives in doing so. Colin had never expressed much interest in her, or anything really, so needless to say, she was a little shocked to hear him voice any kind of opinion. Merida suddenly felt her face heat up in anger and embarrassment.

"And just how long have you been standing there?" She huffed, frustration in her voice.

Colin crossed his arms,

"Long enough to know you agreed to cheer on MacIntosh in the games." He moved closer towards her,

"Bold move, princess. Considering you have some of your own kin competing against him."

Merida look flabbergasted,

"Well, I….he…. and then…" she stammered.

Colin's look gave way to a Cheshire cat grin,

"I'm just teasing you, princess. It's none of my business who you do or do not cheer for, in the games."

Merida looked cautiously at him,

"Truly? I mean, this isn't a ruse is it? You aren't here this time to 'win my hand'?" she asked, making quote symbols for the implied marriage statement.

Colin Dingwall, the young lad of only 21 years of age, shook his head. He had learned to control himself and keep his wits about him easier over time. Being a little slow in thought and action caused people to overlook you quite a bit and Colin used that to his advantage. He could spy and listen in on people and their conversations without reproach, because most people assumed he wasn't paying attention.

As he looked at the young woman in front of him, he thought of how his father wanted him to woo the princess and marry her. That wasn't what he had wanted, and he was grateful to the Queen and Merida for breaking that particular tradition. Convincing his father though would be a different story.

"I'm not here to win yours, or anyone else's, hand…or heart. I only did last time because I was required to do it. I said before that I didnnae pick you out. It was me father that wanted us to be wed, not me." He stated matter-of-factly.

Merida sighed,

"Well that's a relief! At least I donnae have you fawning over me too."

This time, Colin raised a brow,

"I donnae think that Duncan will fawn over you. He will assume you will fall madly in love with him, after you watch him in the competitions, and fawn over him."

Merida gaped,

"You must be joking! After his display on the archery fields last time, I certainly won't fawn over him. I'd never fawn over anyone! It's just not me."

Colin shrugged,

"Well, I would be wary, princess."

"What do you mean, Lord Dingwall?"

"Colin."

Merida rolled her eyes,

"You too?" She looked incredulously at him. "Ugh, fine then! Colin."

Colin's face remained serious,

"I may not be the warrior my father wants me to be, but I'm not a buffoon either. I've learned to wait, watch, and listen. I see and hear things, that most people would just ignore as nuance. Duncan is a great warrior in his own right, but he relies too heavily on his charm. One day, that will be his downfall. "

Merida crossed her arms,

"I never knew you to be the philosophical kind, Colin."

Colin smirked at this,

"There are a great number of things that you don't know about me, princess."

Merida frowned,

"Why is it that all of you want me to call you by your first names, but you won't do the same with me. I have a name, you know, and it's not 'princess'."

Colin grinned,

"It's probably because they've ne'er asked." He shrugged, "May I call you Merida, then, Princess?"

Merida grinned back,

"Please do, Colin."

He nodded,

"I was serious though, about Duncan. He is a grand warrior, but full of himself, as you are already aware. I fear for whomever ends up his wife. She'll be gaining a husband and a child the same day."

Merida laughed,

"Yes, it's unfortunate that the child in him will be more apt to shine through then the man."

Colin also laughed,

"You read my mind, Merida"

Merida stuck her hand out in front of her.

"Colin, I believe, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

Taking her hand he smirked,

"But, only just, right? I wasn't kidding about not being attracted to you. …You're not really my type."

Brows furrowed playfully, she asked,

"You have a type?"

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Kenneth MacGuffin warily searched the tournament grounds. King Fergus his target. Spotting him with his wife in conversation with Lady MacIntosh and Lady Dingwall, Kenneth practically ran over to him.

"Lord MacGuffin, are you alright?" Lady MacIntosh inquired as he jogged up.

It must have looked strange to them, a clan lord rusher over to them, but he needed to speak to the king.

"I'm sorry for the interruption your majesties, and ladies, but if I may borrow the king's ear a bit, I would be most grateful."

Elinor glanced up at her husband. She saw the worry for his friend flash across his face, and she sighed softly. He caught her eye and giving him a knowing, gentle smile, she nodded. There was no sense in making her husband endure the endless chatter of the noble ladies if he was needed.

"Go on dear. I will meet you by the archer's tents in an hour. Merida competes remember."

"Aye, lass. I'll be there. I wouldnae miss that for the world."

Turing to the other ladies, he nodded his head slightly.

"Ladies."

"Ladies. My Queen." Kenneth bowed. Then the two men took off, walking in the opposite direction. After they were out of earshot of the women, Fergus spoke,

"Alright Kenneth, what is this about? You usually have the least amount to complain about when you visit."

"It's not a complaint, my king." he started.

Fergus reached out and put a massive hand on his friends shoulder.

"Not King, Kenneth. It's just Fergus when it's only us, you know that."

Kenneth gave a half-smile.

"Aye…Sorry. I've had a lot on my mind, Fergus."

Fergus nodded,

"I can understand that…So what is the matter, that you had to pull me away from such….riveting conversation." He joked.

"I wanted to apologize for my sons behavior earlier." Kenneth started.

"Puh," Fergus waved a dismissive hand, "Don't think anything of it! The lad was doing what he thought was right. All is well, Kenneth. You worry too much over little things…that's Dingwall's job."

"Yes , but…."

"No 'but's', Kenneth. The other clans will not think less of you, or your son, for taking his stand. Rather admirable, I think. I mean, I was impressed with the lads courage and heart. You have a great son, MacGuffin."

Kenneth bowed his head humbly.

"Thank you, my friend. Your daughter has grown into a strong, fine young woman, as well."

"Oh, now! Don't you start too! MacIntosh and Dingwall both have been driving me bonkers, buttering me up about Merida. I'll tell you the same as I told them. I'm not forcing Merida into anything. I want her to be happy and find love in her own time. And as unruly as she is, that may be a while." Fergus sighed.

Kenneth put his hands up in defense.

" I didnnae mean it like that, Fergus. Besides, I feel the same way about Shae and my other sons."

They stopped walking and Lord MacGuffin grew serious. Fergus looked at him, curiously.

"Are you okay Kenneth? What else is bothering you?"

Kenneth sighed,

"It's about what Shae said about the attack on our home village and castle…"

Fergus waited patiently for him to begin,

"My son didnnae lie about the attack, but he did leave out some of the details in the story."

"Go on."

"You know how we hold the border in the Southern lands? The MacGuffin portion of the kingdom, borders the north land of the Angles, there."

"Aye, this I know."

"Well, Shae believes that Viking attack was a part of a much larger incursion that included our attack against the druid Angles in the south."

Fergus' brows furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

Kenneth sighed again,

"I think my son is off his rocker, but he thinks that the Vikings are helping the Angles, in exchange for portions of spoils. The Angles are pushing north and the Vikings are pushing from the east to the west across the mountains. The Vikings are sea-farers so they have no interest in the land, but our food, weapons and clothing are apparently a great victory to them. The Angles want the land to settle in. I donnae know why, though."

Fergus pondered this,

"You said you thought Shae was off about that, though. Why bring it to my attention, then?"

Kenneth shook his head.

"Everything I just said is almost a direct quote from him. I was letting you know a head of time that I donnae agree with him. Just because we banded together to fight off a common enemy doesn't mean that our enemies would do the same."

Fergus stroked his mustache thoughtfully,

"Actually, the lad may have a point. After the games are over with I would like to talk to Shae about this. We need to be ready if out enemies are banding together too."

Kenneth nodded,

"Aye, that's true."

A few minutes of silence passed.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Fergus asked softly.

Kenneth looked his friend in the eye. A new sadness evident on his face and in his eyes.

"Aye…" Kenneth paused, "the other thing that Shae didn't say, was that, his mother, my wife, Lady MacGuffin, was killed during the attack."

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Shae MacGuffin had never backed down from too many challenges. If his father challenged him to do better, he strove to do better. If his brothers dared him to do something, he was usually dumb enough to try it. If his tutors and instructors gave him new things to learn and do, he did them with no questions asked. This, however, was not the kind of challenge he was accustomed too.

A battle of wits, with a ten year old genius, wasn't exactly something he wanted to repeat again any time soon.

Shae looked over the pieces on the board and sighed,

"How did you get so good at this, Harris?"

Harris shrugged,

"Lots of hours inside. Bored."

Shae moved his last good piece, his queen, right in front of his king for protection.

Harris winced,

"You shouldn't have done that…"

"And why not?" Shae asked.

"Because, now, I can use my Rook to take your Queen. Checkmate. Game over."

"No, I can still take your Rook with my King!" Shae argued.

"No you can't! My Knight and my Bishops can kill your king regardless of his move….I win." Harris pointed out.

Shae hung his head in mock shame,

"Beaten by a ten year old prince…I must be getting old and slow."

Harris reached over and patted his massive shoulder playfully,

"Well, look at it this way. You lasted longer against me then any other person I've played against in DunBroch, especially my sister. She's horrible."

"Really, now?" Shae smirked.

"Yeah, I can usually beat her in 7 moves or less." Harris said setting the chessboard up again.

Shae looked stunned,

"Wow. That is bad."

When Harris finished cleaning, he grabbed Shae by the arm of his sleeve.

"Come on outside with me, Shae."

They made their way outside to the stables. Harris had picked up a few apples on his way out of the castle and began munching on one. He tossed one to Shae too, as they reached the stables. Shae went to take a bite out of the apple, but Harris laughed at him,

"I didnnae get that for you."

Shae looked confused,

"Well then, who did you get it for?"

Pointing to the horses in the stables, Harris grinned.

"Its for Angus and Keavy."

Shae nodded in understanding and walked over to the giant black and white shire.

"That's Angus. He's my sisters horse."

"Aye, I remember her riding him to Callanish*, to save her mom."

Shae looked over at Harris next to a beautiful grey appaloosa coat shire.

Harris was brushing her down and had placed the rest of his apple in her feeding bucket.

"And who is this?" Shae nodded towards the light colored mare.

"This is Keavy*. She's my mother's mount, but I get to ride her too. She's not as skittish as some of the other horses we have. Even Angus is known to throw people, Merida too."

Shae didn't mean to, but a michevious smirk crossed his face,

"I would've loved to see that."

As they fed and brushed the horses together Harris began asking Shae all kinds of questions about his home and brothers. Soon the topic changed to the games and the different competitions.

"Which competitions will you compete in, Shae?" asked Harris excitedly.

"I suppose cabers and the stone put. I think too many of the games are all alike so I just pick whichever ones suit my fancy at the time."

Harris nodded, but then he grinned at Shae,

"What about the archery contest? Merida will be there." He snickered.

Shae rolled his eyes,

"I know. That is why I'm staying as far away from the archery fields as possible."

Harris pressed on,

"But why don't you like my sister? I know she can be stubborn sometimes, but she really has a good heart and she takes care of me and me brothers."

Wanting to change the topic, Shae found an opening with that.

"Speaking of your brothers…Why do they tease you for being a few hours younger than them? I mean, it's not like they have years on you or anything."

Harris shrugged,

"I guess it's because I've never been able to keep up with them in their training. They call me slow and clumsy and weak. I'm not good with the sword, and even though Merida helps me with the bow, I have trouble with aiming."

Shae raised a brow,

"So then, you've never tried to best them at their own games before, I take it? That always works for my youngest brother, Taryn.*" Shae suggested.

Harris shook his head,

"No, even if I had the greatest trainer in the world, I'd still never be able to best them."

Shae smiled gently,

"What if I trained you, some?"

Harris beamed up at him,

"You'd do that?"

Shae nodded and Harris threw his arms around Shae's huge middle. Shae was taken aback by the sudden attack, but patted the younger lad on his back, awkwardly.

"Alright, Alright, Harris! You can let go now."

"Harris! Where are you?" called a female voice in the distance.

As soon as he heard it, Shae rolled his eyes. Harris saw this and frowned.

"She's still my sister, even if you don't' like her." Harris whispered.

"I know." Shae sighed.

Merida waved and ran up to Harris, panting.

"There you are Harris."

"Is something wrong, sis?" Harris asked.

Merida shook her head,

"No, but I thought you might want to take Haddy* out and try her in the sheep herding competition."

Harris nodded,

"Aye, let me finish up with Keavy and I'll be there."

"There's no time. They're calling for the competitors now. I'll finish up with Keavy. You go on ahead. I'll be there to cheer you on in a bit."

Harris turned to run off, but stopped short and caught Shae's eye. Shae nodded in understanding and said,

"Go on. I'll be along in a bit."

Harris smiled excitedly and ran off to the fields. Merida turned to Shae, who was still brushing down Angus. It was odd that Angus was allowing him to get that close. He usually didn't take to strangers well, but Shae was having no problems with him. Merida raised a brow at this, but didn't say anything.

Breaking the silence, Shae coughed.

"I can finish tending to the stallion and mare. You go to your brother."

"Oh, so you finally decide to say something nice to me, for a change?" Merida teased.

Only, it wasn't taken in the context it was given and Shae sneered.

"Look, Harris told me how much he looks up to you. You're his sister, you should be out there cheering for him. Not here. Besides, isn't this kind of work to lowly for a princess, anyway?"

Merida glared at him,

"And there you go again! Not a nice thing to say to me!"

"Oh, like you have anything nice to day about me!" Shae shot back.

"What do you mean?" questioned Merida.

"Oh I don't know, how about: 'He rather be tossing cabers, or holding up bridges.' Or, I like the 'You can't understand him at all'. And, 'What did he say?'." A brief pause and he slowed his speech down. "'He's as big as a bear and strong as on ox.' 'Yeah, and just as dumb as one, too.'"

Shae looked down, sighed and looked back up again quickly. His eyes hard and cold looking into hers.

"I know you didnnae say all of those things, but I know your kind of woman well enough to know that nothing I do will ever matter. You proved that five years ago."

Merida threw her arms up in frustration,

"Are you still on about that? You've had _**five years**_ to get over it! Besides, archery, obviously, isn't your game. Listen, I don't know what else I could have done to upset you, but this ends now!" Merida yelled.

Shae glared daggers at her,

"**You **broke tradition, **you** made me a fool, **you **are to blame for everything!" He pointed an accusing finger in her face.

Merida slammed a bucket on the ground,

"At least **I** don't wallow in self-pity, reliving the day that** I **let half of my village burn to the ground, while invaders ransacked my home."

By now they were face to face. The tension between them caused the horses to whinny and shake. Shae's eyes normally light green eyes had gone dark emerald green, and burned with anger. Merida hadn't realized that she had somehow backed against the wall of the stable. Shae placed one arm beside her head, his massive size trapping. Instantly, she felt like a tiny babe compared to him.

"You have no right to judge me, '_**Princess.'**_" He spat, and continued,

"**You** haven't seen the things _**I've **_seen. Been where _**I've **_been, walked in _**my**_ boots."

Merida glared up at him. His eyes dark, cold, and stormy, like the skies the day prior. They held passion and anger in them and the look he gave her sent a chill down her spine, yet again.

Steeling her self she leaned up into his face,

"Listen 'MacGruff', I donnae care if you are still sore about the competitions five years ago or not. I have no quarrel with you, but if you continue this attitude with me, then we can settle this on the competitors field." Merida challenged.

Shae snorted,

"Hmph," sneering he lowered his arm and backed away, "You're not worth my time, _**Princess**_."

With that Shae turned and walked away. Merida stood there, mouth agape, seething in anger,

'How dare he!' she screamed in her mind. Her breathing quickened as she became enraged. Angus gently nuzzled her to get her to calm down. Acknowledging his presence, Merida stroked his muzzle.

"I swear Angus, I will make him pay for humiliating me." She glared in the direction that Shae had stormed off in. "I'll make him pay, dearly!"

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Okay so that was a really long chapter that you all waited for. 13 pages single spaced in Microsoft Word, to be exact. I'm sorry if this chapter seemed too stagnant in places. I've been working on developing plot usage for the other characters, besides, Shae, Merida and Harris. Although, I like writing those three the best. Incorporating the other young lords and their fathers will be easy to do in the beginning, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to exactly tie in their involvement in the main act of the story.

Just FYI this will not be a short tale. This is all I've been thinking on while I've been at work and home. I work on it when I get home and stay up way too late working on it the nights before work. So my updates will be long and have, hopefully, enough to keep everyone satisfied until the next installment can be uploaded, but please be patient with me.

I also want to thank everyone for the reviews and the author and story subscription alerts. It makes me happy to know that there are other Brave fans out there that share my interest.

A tiny side note, I wanted to add, I'm trying to avoid reading other's fanfictions right now. Not because I think that they're bad, on the contrary, it's just from the ones I have read some of my very idea's I thought of at the beginning are already in other people's stories and I do not want to be accused of stealing an idea from another writer.

"There is nothing new, under the sun." - Biblical proverb.

Okay so here are the name translations for this chapter.

* Taryn (Gaelic) – "Tender/Innocent"

* Keavy (Gaelic)- "kind;tender"

* Haddy (Greek) – 'Modest"


	4. Chapter 4

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

The gamesman blew his horn that signaled the end of the first day of the games. All the clans and their competitors made their way back to the Castle DunBroch. Some held their heads high and some were sagged in disappointment. Regardless of the first day outcome, all were in a joyous mood and wanted to retell the events of the day during the after dinner festivities.

King Fergus had ordered everyone to clean up before the evening meal was served, per his wife's request. Elinor may have enjoyed the games as much as anyone, but she refused to have the main hall a complete mess from the competitors. She was, after all, the Queen.

Merida was relieved too. She didn't mind getting dirty, but one thing that had changed about her over time, was that she didn't like to be caked in dirt and mud for long periods of time.

'I suppose some of my mother is rubbing off on me.' Merida thought as she made her way up to her room. She past her mother on her way.

"Oh, good, there you are Merida. I had Maudie draw up a bath for you and I've laid out a new dress for you."

"Ahh! Thanks mum, that's a life saver." Merida sighed and headed into her room.

Elinor stood outside the door a few minutes waiting patiently. Suddenly , a scream erupted from Merida's room.

"Gah! That's cold!" Merida yelled.

Elinor covered her smile with her hand.

"Well, I didn't say how long ago I had Maudie draw the bath." Elinor called to Merida.

"MUM!"

With that Elinor burst into laughter and hurried to her own room.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Still upset at her mother's trick, Merida muttered to herself as she made her way down to the dining hall. All of the clans would be eating in the main hall during the competitions, but Merida, her mother and brothers and the Ladies Macintosh * and Dingwall would dine in the private and quiet family room. Her father would be keeping the company of the other clan leaders during dinner for the remainder of the games. That meant that the conversations at dinner would be a tad quieter, as well.

"CRASH!" came the sound of a breaking plate.

Merida sighed,

"Scratch the quiet dinner." She mumbled.

Lady Macintosh and Lady Dingwall looked on as Elinor reprimanded her two oldest sons. They were apologetic, but Merida could tell the were not sincere about it. Elinor could tell too and she scolded them again.

"If you two pull anymore of your little pranks, I will make sure that you won't be competing in anymore of the competitions for the rest of the week."

'Look whose talking.' Merida glanced at her mother as she sat down.

"Good evening, Princess." Lady Dingwall addressed Merida, "Your mother was just recounting the outcome of today's archery events."

Lady Macintosh looked less impressed but still smiled cordially.

"Yes, quite the feat! You, a young woman, beating out all of the men in your clan who competed."

Merida eyed her warily, but didn't say anything in regards to that. Instead, she turned her attention back to Lady Dingwall.

"Thank you milady. I've worked really hard to get to the level that I'm at right now in archery."

"Well, I've heard tales of your ability with the bow. I look forward to seeing it in action during the final archery competition in a few days." Lady Dingwall complimented.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to see it either," Lady Macintosh jumped in, " I was with Duncan at the caber toss and stone throw today.

By now Merida was only half listening, and caught Harris' gaze from across the table. Merida glanced around to see if her mother or the other ladies were paying attention, but they were lost in their conversation. Considering herself safe, she crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth. She hung her head sideways slightly, as if a noose was a round her neck, and quietly gurgled, like she was choking.

Harris smiled through his teeth and snickered. This caught Hubert and Hamish' attention, as well. They also began giggling quietly at their sister's shenanigans.

"Ahem." Elinor cleared her throat. Merida looked over at her mother, her tongue still lolled over the outside of her mouth. Lady Macintosh looked mortified, but Lady Dingwall looked amused and reached up with a napkin to cover her grin. The queen looked annoyed but not entirely without amusement.

Merida straightened up,

"Sorry mum…and ladies."

With that, dinner resumed in silence. When the boys finished, they began to pester their mother.

"Mum, can we please go to the main hall?" Hamish begged.

"Yeah , we want to see what da and the other lords are doing." Hubert agreed.

Lady Macintosh huffed,

"Probably reliving their battle tales, if I know Lorne."

"Or boasting over accomplishments that ne're did happen." Lady Dingwall added.

Merida smiled a the two and her mother,

"Still it would be fun to see what is going on."

"A lady shouldn't take part in such kinds of revelry." Lady Macintosh condescended.

Elinor glared at her quickly, in protection of her daughter, but it was gone before anyone saw it.

"Actually, I myself would like to go and see what kind of trouble my husband is getting the other lords into. Perhaps we will retire to the hall…"looking over at her children, she smiled, "…together."

The boys grinned widely up at their mother and ran for the door.

Lady Macintosh raised a brow,

"This is highly irregular…" she whispered to Lady Dingwall.

"Oh hush, Tawnee*. I'm having a grand time and so are you." Lady Dingwall waved her on.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

The main hall had erupted in loud shouting matches and strength test games such as arm wrestling. The men from all the clans recanted stories from recently fought battles and relived old war stories with the younger men present.

Finally, King Fergus recounted the tale of Mor'du the demon bear and his daughter and wife's bear adventure. Most of the hall had been present during that actual tale too, but they allowed him to retell it to them. He was their king, after all.

The queen, ladies, Merida and her brothers all arrived just as King Fergus was finishing the story.

"And just when we thought all hope was lost … My Elinor was back and the bond in our kingdom was made stronger."

Verbal confirmation of agreeing words and actions were added in throughout the hall.

Elinor and her children took their seats next to his throne and the ladies found places next to their husbands and sons.

"Ah Elinor! What brings you all down here, love?" he asked giving a nervous chuckle.

"We thought we would see how you are keeping the lords and their clans entertained, dear." Elinor gave a soft smile.

Fergus smiled,

"Actually, I was just about to open the floor. We haven't had a good chanty in a while, and I thought one of these young lads would like to take the lead."

The hall went unnaturally quiet and everyone looked back and forth among themselves.

"Well don't just sit there, you lot! Someone start something." Fergus urged.

Still no one spoke, or sang. Merida rolled her eyes.

"Are you all scared babes or something? It's just a song, lads! One of you must have something?" Fergus continued to taunt.

"It's just that… we don't usually sing chanties in front of ladies." Duncan Macintosh spoke up first.

"Aye. Most are a little lewd for mixed company, as it were." Colin added.

Shae said nothing but watched the other lords and the king argue back and forth over this.

'Seems a rather infantile request, if you ask me.' He thought to himself.

His father gazed at him from across the table.

"Why donnae you sing us a song, Shae?" he whispered.

Shae blanched at his father,

"YOU must be joking! I refuse."

"We'll see about that…" his father whispered to himself.

Standing up Lord MacGuffin motioned for the room to quiet down. Fergus acknowledge him with a nod. Shae looked up uncertain at his father as he addressed the room.

"My fellow Lord's and Ladies, fellow clansmen and kin, my son, Shae would like a chance to sing a song for you tonight."

"Well FINALLY!" Fergus beamed.

Kenneth looked down at his son, who glared daggers up at his father. He stood as his father sat down. Shae had a sour look on his face but didn't fight his father's request. This time.

Duncan nudged Colin in the side snickering,

"Oh, this ought to be rich."

Colin shook his head though,

"You never know."

Merida rolled her eyes when Shae stood up. Of course it would have to be him who caught her father's attention. Why? She thought to herself. Because the spirits hated her, that's why. Shae cleared his throat a little.

"I guess I will humor my father and fulfill my kings request. I'm afraid I don't know many chanties though, but I hope this is alright." He walked over to a musician and asked for the lute.

Shae began to pick the strings and soft music floated on the air. Merida shook her head and raised a brow at this. Most warriors were not musicians too and this particularly intrigued her…but only just a bit.

Shae allowed the music to flow freely, uninhibited from his being. He was a lord's son, but he loved music and wasn't afraid to share his love with others. He closed his eyes and let the words come from within.

"**Come by the hills to the land where fancy is free,**

**And stand where the peaks meet the skies and the lochs meet the sea;**

**Where the rivers run clear, and the bracken is warm in the sun,**

**And the cares of tomorrow can wait till this day is done."**

Almost everyone's jaw dropped when Shae began singing. It was strong and melodious, deep with a rumble. All the ladies looked on intrigued, even Merida found herself completely enthralled with his voice. Many of the warriors found themselves lost in the sweet tune, as well.

"**Come by the hills to the land where life is a song,**

**And stand where the birds fill the air with their joy all day long;**

**Where the trees sway in time, and even the wind sings in tune,**

**And the cares of tomorrow can wait till this day is done."**

Duncan couldn't believe that, THAT voice was coming from that man. It was ridiculous. He was a bear, not a minstrel. He nearly jumped when Colin elbowed him back.

"So,…you were saying?"

Duncan rolled his eyes and muttered,

"Shut it."

Merida couldn't believe this was the same man that had angered her so earlier that day. As he sang, all other thought melted away and she smiled softly. His words echoed her own thoughts about her home and she found all of her earlier frustrations melting away.

"**Come by the hills to the land where legends remain,**

**The stories of old fill the heart and may yet come again;**

**Where the past has been lost, and the future has still to be won,**

**And the cares of tomorrow can wait till this day is done."**

**And the cares of tomorrow can wait till this day is done." ***

He finished the song, trailed off and caught Merida's gaze. Her eyes were locked onto his and he faltered for a second. He cleared his throat and glanced away, breaking the contact with the princess. She too shook her head and replaced her dream-like look with more natural one. Elinor had caught the gaze between the two and a light lit up behind her eyes. Fergus had also caught a glimpse of the look and raised his brow to his eldest child. She looked at him and shrugged, unsure of what he was silently asking.

Fergus began to stand up, but Elinor beat him to it. Clapping her hands together she delighted,

"Thank you young lord. That was beautiful. You had us all enthralled

with your song and music."

Shae bowed low and looked up at his queen,

"Thank you, your majesty."

With that Shae returned the lute to the musician, and turned towards the stairs. Kenneth began to stop him, but Shae jerked around to face his father.

"I think I will retire for the evening da'. I need rest for tomorrows games."

Kenneth began to protest but decided not to push his son. Nodding he conceded,

"I'll see you in the morning, son."

With that the young MacGuffin trudged up to his chamber.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Merida found herself pacing in the hobby room in frustration. She didn't understand her own emotions at the moment and it caused her head to hurt. On one hand, Shae had angered her and humiliated her at the stables and with his attitude. On the other hand, she had no actual justification for her anger. But again , he started this little battle between them the moment he arrived. Oh, but that song had been beautiful!

"Augh! It's too confusing!" Merida groaned.

"What's confusing, dear?" came Elinor's voice from behind her.

Merida jumped, and turned with a yelp.

"Geeze mum! Do you think you could _**not **_scare me to death every time you come in a room."

Elinor hid a smile behind her hand.

"I'm sorry, Merida."

She composed herself and watched as her daughter had resumed her pacing and muttering.

Elinor's soft smile never left her face as she sat down next to the new tapestry her and Merida had been working on. She began working on it, paying no mind to Merida. Merida paused in her muttering and watch as her mother calmly and deftly began to work the intricate design work.

"So…, " her mother began, "Young Lord MacGuffin. He sure surprised us all tonight, eh?

Merida felt her face involuntarily heat up.

"I have no idea what you mean, mum." Merida looked away quickly.

Elinor gave a sly smile,

"Oh now, I think you do. I saw the way you were watching him as he sang."

Merida stammered,

"It…It doesn't mean, ANYTHING!" she regained a little composure. "Trust me mum! Besides, all of the servant girls were watching him too. I mean…every person in the hall was watching and listening in awe. It's not like I was the only one."

Elinor hummed to herself, not really listening to Merida.

"Really mum, don't you be reading anything into that… besides I can't stand the man."

Elinor raised a questioning brow to her,

"Really? I thought he was getting along with everyone fine. Harris has said nothing but great things about the young man all evening long. He really looks up to the young lord. I hope that he can be a good influence on Hubert and Hamish, too."

Going back to her work her voice trailed off. Merida rolled her eyes at her mother.

"Well, he may have Harris fooled, but he won't fool me. I know he has some evil plot or plan to ruin me during the games, I just know it."

Now it was Elinor's turn to roll her eyes.

"Honestly, Merida. He has nothing of the sort! However, I heard that the young lord is going through a difficult time right now and could possibly have lapses in judgment and attitude from time to time."

Merida picked up on this,

"A difficult time?"

Elinor nodded still not looking at her,

"Yes, his father told Fergus earlier today that Shae's mother, Lady MacGuffin, was also killed in the attack to their home. Poor lad, he's probably still hurting about it. That's why he didn't want to compete in the games, either."

Merida looked down, ashamed of herself.

"Well then, that explains the attitude a little bit more." She muttered to herself again. Elinor looks at her strangely, but Merida waves her mother off.

"Never mind, mum. I'll take care of it later."

Elinor nodded and then got up to leave,

"Well dear, I'm going to bed. Be sure that you get your rest. We have another full day tomorrow, too."

With that Elinor retired to her room, leaving Merida to ponder her thoughts, alone.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Shae had never struggled so much with training anyone, but the young prince seemed to be his first major trial. Harris wasn't too small for a boy his age, but he wasn't large either. Shae decided that the short sword would be easier for him to learn and easier to train with. The shorter and smaller the blade, the faster the strike. With Harris' size that would be an advantage on the field. Or so Shae thought. After about the fourth round against his brothers, Harris still hadn't landed a single hit.

Shae crossed his arms and shook his head as Hubert knocked Harris to the ground.

"This isn't working Lord MacGuffin." Hamish groaned at his younger brother's ineptness at swordplay.

Shae turned to glance at the oldest son of clan DunBroch.

"It is just Shae, young prince. And give it time. Your brother has the ability, but he lacks training and discipline. Over time, these are things you can learn and develop. You'd do well to remember that, too.

Hamish tilted his head and studied the man who stood watching over his brothers. He was tall and broad, like their dad. It was easy to see how Merida could have mistaken him as their father in the dark. He noted that he didn't seem gruff or harsh at all, like their sister had complained. He was patient, but firm. And in his lessons he didn't skimp on details.

"No Hubert. You mustn't dodge in that direction when an opponent raises his weapon like that. You leave your sides open to a critical killing attack. In real battle, a true opponent would have used your openness and struck you down."

"Aww, come on Shae! I'm getting tired. Why can't Hamish fight against Harris now?"

Hamish stuck his tongue out at him,

"You're the one who said you wanted to get stronger too! Shae agreed to help all of us, but now you're acting like a big baby!"

"I am NOT!" Hubert cried.

Before Shae could stop their arguing, a feminine voice came from behind him.

"Boys, now honestly… Don't ya think you could be a little more civil with each other?"

Shae turned and saw Merida leaning against a hitching post. His demeanor hardened at her presence, but tried not to let it show to her brothers.

"Lads, why don't you practice strikes on the dummies over there." Shae motioned further away.

Harris hurried over, but Hubert and Hamish looked at Merida first, waiting for her approval. She caught their look, but waved them on.

"Well, go on. You don't want to upset your _**tutor **_now, do ye?"

"Are you sure, sis?" asked Hubert.

Merida nodded,

"It's fine boys. Go practice with Harris."

With that Hubert and Hamish went over to where their younger brother was, out of earshot of the two young adults.

"Can I help you, **Princess**?" Shae gritted through his teeth.

Merida's brows furrowed in quick rising anger, but remembering why she had come down to the practice yard this morning, she tried to let it go.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you, Lord MacGuffin."

For once, Shae didn't correct his name. He didn't want to be on a personal level with the woman, so formalities would be tolerated solely for that purpose. He supposed he could at least indulge her a moment or two before leaving for the game field.

"What about? "

Clearing her throat, Merida wondered if this was the right thing. After all, he had insulted her too. Wasn't she allowed an apology as well?

"I…I wanted to…apologize, to you. ….For the other day."

Shae squinted his eyes in confusion, eyeing her suspiciously,

"Why?"

Merida straightened, no longer nervous, like a wee child. She looked straight back at him.

"Does it matter the reason? I'm trying to say 'I'm sorry', why can't you just take it for what it's worth."

"Oh, you mean, _nothing_." Shae snapped.

Merida clenched her fists in anger.

"I'm trying to offer a sincere apology to you. Why can't you just accept it?"

"I don't think you know what a _sincere _apology is, 'Princess'. Besides, won't it hurt your reputation if anyone ever found out?" his snide comment left her seeing red.

"I don't care what anyone thinks." She spat out.

Now Shae went dead serious, his features hardening.

"Oh I think you do, 'Princess'. You worry that other's will assume you've gone soft. You know, become the_ Lady_ you were supposed to be all along."

"How dare you!... To think, that I actually began to feel sympathy for you. I must've been out of my mind!" Merida screamed at him, this time not caring if she attracted attention.

Shae raised a brow at this,

"Sympathy?"

Merida wasn't paying attention to him anymore, but continued her rant,

"I thought your attitude problem was due to the fact that you lost your mother, but now I see that YOU are just a stubborn, pigheaded, oversized troll!"

Shae's eyes flashed emerald, and he grabbed her wrist.

"How do you know about that?" he whispered slow and angry.

Merida struggled against his grip, but he refused to let go.

"My mum told me last night. She'd heard it from da' who was told by your father."

Shae looked away hurt and upset for a split second. It wasn't long, but it was enough for Merida to see the hurt and pain cross his features, briefly. He gazed back up into her eyes, loosening his grip but not fully letting go of her wrist. His features softened, just slightly. He spoke slowly, the coldness of his tone sending a chill down her spine, again.

"I donnae need your sympathy, or your pity, 'Princess.' My burdens are mine…and mine alone to bear."

She stared into his eyes. She felt as though she was drowning in the whirlpool of emotions there. She didn't know how long the two of the stood there, each silently daring the other to make a move. Neither registered the gamesman's horn call for the next event either. It wasn't until Merida notice snickering in the background, that she was pulled from her trance.

"Why donnae you just kiss him sis and get it over with!" Hamish teased.

"Yeah, you two look _SO_ cute holding hands, like that!" Hubert clasped his hands in front of him and made a goofy, love-struck face.

Hamish began making kissing noises and Merida was sure her face was as bright red as her hair. Harris didn't contribute to the mocking, but he did laugh at Merida and Shae's reactions.

Shae dropped her wrist and without another word to her, left for the castle proper. As Merida began arguing and reprimanding Hamish and Hubert, Harris ran over to Shae and stopped him,

"Wait Shae, I'm sorry. We were just teasing."

"I know." He answered hastily.

"So why are you going to the castle? The games fields are the other way." Harris pointed.

"I know." Came Shae's abrupt answer again.

"Are you not going to compete in the games? I thought you had decided you were." Harris was now confused and a little frantic.

"Aye, I am Harris. But I have to go do something, first." Shea paused and looked down, his voice softening "Go with your brothers to the field and I will be out before the next competition starts. I promise."

Harris nodded and took off to 'save' his two brother's from their sisters wrath.

Shae watched as they left for the field and then turned on his heel to head inside.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Duncan Macintosh was restless. This was his second day and DunBroch and he had only spoken to Princess Merida once. Plus, she never did come to see him in the caber toss the day prior, like she had promised. He didn't understand why she wasn't putty in his hands this very instant! It upset him so, but since this particular event was between all the clans today, he would have a chance to show off to for the entire royal family.

The event was for the stone put competition and all the clans had to have one representative to compete in the game. Duncan was the choice for the Macintosh clan, and he was ready to prove his worth. He also had an idea to add to the stakes. He just hoped his request wouldn't be denied by the king.

When King Fergus and the rest of the royal family arrived, the competitors were announced. Well, almost all of them were. All except for clan MacGuffin, who was still missing their competitor.

"A'right lets get on with it!" Fergus bellowed merrily.

Duncan saw his opportunity and stepped forward. He bowed to his king,

"Your majesty, I have a request?"

Fergus raised a brow at this but didn't correct his behavior. He did, however, look over to Lorne, who was staring incredulously at his son.

"This is highly irregular, lad, but now that you have our attention, what is your request?"

Duncan swallowed hard, and asked,

"May the winner of this competition receive a favor from the princess?"

Merida's eyes shot wide at this, her heart plummeting.

"A favor?" asked Fergus, confused.

"Aye, your majesty. ….A kiss, to be more precise."

Fergus saw Lorne smack himself in his face when Duncan asked that of him.

"Absolutely not!" Merida shouted, standing to her feet.

All eyes turned to her and her mother grabbed her arm to pull her down. Fergus looked back and forth between his wife and daughter and the young man who made the request. On one hand, he was angered that the lad had the gall to ask such a thing, but on the other, he had to admire his fortitude to be able to ask. Looking across the field, he eyed the other competitors. None looked like they would beat the young Macintosh lord, so it seemed given that he would win. Not a moment later he noticed the Shae MacGuffin making his way to the field. A twinkle lit up in Fergus' eye. Oh, this would make the games more interesting, indeed.

Everyone had gone quiet, waiting on the kings reply. Merida silently begged her father to deny young Macintosh, while Duncan silently implored the other. Finally, Fergus addressed the competitors. Raising his hand he declared,

"I agree to your request, Young Macintosh! The winner of the competition will receive a kiss, on the cheek, from our fair princess."

The color in Merida's cheeks drained and she thought she would pass out. Her father had just promised a kiss, from HER, to the winner! Her eyes flashed in anger and she hardened.

"May the best man, win!" he finished and with that the crowd erupted in cheering and talk.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

By the time Shae had arrived to the field for the stone put competition, all of the other competitors were getting ready for their turns at the game. All he had heard prior to walking up to the others was King Fergus' well wishes for all the competitors. He was a little confused as to all the excitement. He liked strength games as much as the next Scot, but something was a little off.

Colin Dingwall sidled up to him, a bit a sly smile on his face.

"So,….I heard you have an attitude problem with the fair princess Merida, correct."

Shae raised a brow at this,

"Since when have you been such a nosy person, Dingwall? And who gave you permission to be so informal about the princess?"

Colin put his hands up in defense,

"Hey easy, I'm no threat to you. And **she** did, because I **asked** her. Oh and the name is Colin, thank you."

Shae studied him for a second and held out his hand to shake,

"Sorry, I've been a little on edge."

Colin snickered,

"Oh, I bet." Waiting a moment he continued, "So I take it your not going to try to win the competition, then?"

Shae looked at him baffled,

"Why wouldn't I?"

Now it was Colin's turn to look a stunned, but recovered quickly,

"So you don't know about the prize?"

"What prize?"

Colin smiled slyly and patted Shae on the back,

"You know, it may be better if you're **surprised**. Well then, do your best… and good luck!" With that Colin made his way back into the crowd since he wasn't the Dingwall clan competitor.

Shae watched him go, confused about the conversion. He shook it head and turned back to the playing field, waiting his turn.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

In the royal family box, the conversation was less civil and angrier. Merida was trying not to make a scene with her father, but she was livid! Even Elinor was a little perturbed by her husbands flippant ability to grant the young Macintosh's request.

"Really Fergus, that was a brazen move by the lad and you should have reprimanded him for it, not encouraged it." Elinor stated.

"Yeah da'. Now I'm going to have to kiss that arrogant little…" Merida ranted quietly.

"Merida!" Elinor interrupted.

Fergus shrugged exaggeratedly,

"I don't see what the big deal is? It's just on the cheek. Besides Merida, the young Macintosh may not be the one to win."

Merida gave her father a glaring upset stare,

"Oh yeah, like that's better. I donnae want to kiss anyone!" she argued.

"Well, I've already promised the prize to the winner and the king cannot take back his word." Fergus stated, a little harsher then normal.

Merida knew she wouldn't win this argument. She could argue with her mother, but she didn't like to anger her father, so she conceded to him. But that didn't mean she was happy about it. She crossed her arms in a huff and stared hard out at the competitors field, ignoring her parents

Elinor leaned over to Fergus, whispering to him gently,

"Really dear, that was very silly of you to do something like that. You know how Merida is."

Fergus patted her arm and nodded,

"Aye love, but you and I both caught that look on Merida last night."

Now Elinor looked confused,

"Well, yes,…but… that was young MacGuffin, not Macintosh."

Fergus tilted his head to the playing field and whispered quietly,

"I know. Look at who the MacGuffin clan competitor is."

Elinor's brows furrowed as she took another look at the field. She gasped and put her hand up to her heart. She saw Shae MacGuffin standing proudly next to his clan's flag, awaiting his turn. A sly grin covered Fergus face, but Elinor still looked at him dubiously.

"Fergus, really? Playing matchmaker? What about allowing Merida to make her own choice? Finding love in her own time? Not forcing her into anything? Besides, how do you even know the young MacGuffin will win the competition?"

Fergus shrugged,

"For your information, I'm not forcing anything. I'm just giving a little…push. And I don't know if he will win or not." Grinning widely, "That's what makes this more interesting."

Elinor rolled her eyes at him, but smiled.

"Well, at least your heart is in the right place, love. Your mind…not so much." She teased.

Fergus laughed at first but stopped abruptly and did a double take, looking at his queen. She gave him a slight smirk and they both snickered quietly.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Duncan took a deep breath to focus himself. He and Shae MacGuffin were the last to go and he was certain he could win. Sure, the MacGuffin heir was twice his size physically, but that didn't mean all of that was muscle. Besides, Duncan was motivated by the thought of receiving a kiss from the princess, even if it was just on the cheek. Clan representatives from DunBroch and Dingwall had already gone and now it was his turn. Three throws, the farthest distance of the three is the measured one. Whichever clan competitor has the farthest throw, they are declared the winner.

Duncan let out a breath,

'It's going to be me.' He thought to himself. Glancing over at the princess, he declared in his mind.

'I'm going to win that kiss!'

Merida hadn't paid too much attention to the competitors of Dingwall or her own clan, but now it was Duncan Macintosh's turn and she couldn't have been more nervous. She didn't want him to win. It wasn't nice of her to admit it, but she really didn't want to kiss him, cheek or not. She silently prayed to any spirits within listening distance for him to mess up his throws.

Duncan took a deep breath again and placed the stone next to his cheek. He faced away from the field and set his stance for his first toss. A short approach, quick turn and release! The stone went flying, but it landed just short of the farthest toss so far that day, which happened to be by clan Dingwall.

Duncan was upset and threw his head back in disgust. He didn't throw a tantrum though, like he did five years ago during the archery tournament. No need to make the princess think he hadn't matured any during the last five years.

He picked up his second stone and found this stone to be slightly lighter then the first. Duncan beamed on the inside. If he could toss this stone the same as the first , then he was sure to get the longest toss. However, looking over at Shae MacGuffin, he began to doubt himself. He had to make sure _this_ stone went _WAY_ beyond the distance leader, to ensure it would be difficult for Shae to even get close.

Duncan steeled himself and set for his second throw. He approached, turned and tossed! The stone was in the air, then sunk to the earth. When it hit the ground it was easily seven feet from the longest toss, prior. Duncan smiled to himself. He was sure to win now! He looked over at Merida and was put off by the look on her face. It was somewhere between pain and anguish and disgust. Duncan's internal celebration halted immediately.

'I don't understand, this princess.' He thought to himself. 'Back home, all the ladies love me! Even here, they fall at my feet when I give them a little show. But the princess looks appalled at the notion of a little kiss.'

That didn't matter to him right now though. He still had one more toss and regardless if Merida wanted to kiss him or not, she would before the day was over, he was sure. Duncan picked up his last stone. It was lighter than even the second stone was. He couldn't believe his luck! The spirits must have been smiling down on him today. For a third and final time he took his stance. Taking a deep breath, he did his approach, turn and release again. This time however, he released too soon on the toss and the stone went high. He cursed himself! It landed just beyond his first throw, tying even with the Dingwall clan.

Duncan raked a hand through his long hair. He still had the farthest distance in the toss, but the MacGuffin clan still had their throws to go. After Duncan stepped back to his clan flag, a murmur went up from among the crowd. King Fergus stood and they quieted.

"Impressive young Macintosh, but you haven't won yet!" Turning to the last clan he shouted, "Clan MacGuffin! Send your champion forward."

When Shae MacGuffin stepped forward, Merida almost fell out of her seat at the sight of him. He had changed from the outfit she saw him in earlier that morning, and he had been standing amidst his clansmen out of her view. She had no idea **HE** was competing for Clan MacGuffin.

She wondered if he would lose the competition on purpose just so he wouldn't have to receive a kiss from her. Would he be that spiteful? Or would he actually win and save her from the arrogant Duncan Macintosh? Suddenly the thought of having to kiss Shae MacGuffin didn't seem so bad,…compared to the alternative. She found herself, begrudgingly, praying that Shae would beat Duncan's toss.

Shae had actually been impressed with Duncan's tosses and hoped he could at least math him. He still didn't understand what the people were so excited about for this competition. All he had gotten from Colin was that the winner received a special prize. Maybe it was one of the king's prize horses or breeding animals? Maybe it was a private audience with the king during the time of the games? Maybe…maybe, he should stop wondering and focus on the task at hand. It didn't matter what the prize actually was. He competed for honor. The honor and memory of his fallen warriors during the siege. He had a true reason to win, not some silly prize.

Shaking his thoughts away he picked up his first stone. Heavy and sturdy, not unlike himself. He also faced away from the field to make his approach. He squared himself and jerked around. His movements weren't as graceful as the young Macintosh' but he still had a mighty arm. Still, he hadn't prepared correctly and the stone fell just past the mid range field throw. It was no where even near Duncan's short throw.

Shae huffed. He would have to go about the approach a different way. He picked up the second stone and noted the weight it was slightly lighter from the first one. He needed to put more force and distance in his throw. This time, he bent forward slightly before making his approach and turn. His turn was less jerky and more fluid this time and released the stone at right at the moment his arm just started to come down. This sent the stone flying farther then the first one and landed a just a few feet from Duncan's longest throw. He needed to throw exactly like that but with more power behind his arm for his last toss if he hoped to win.

Merida had been watching the MacGuffin competitor with a bated breath. She nearly jumped up and screamed at his first toss. It was horrible! At least he made up for it with his second toss. However, he still hadn't beaten Duncan's toss and she was still worried. She laced her fingers together in place her hands near her face, almost in pleading prayer. She watched as Shae took his last throw, and waited for her last chance at being spared Duncan.

Shae had picked up his last stone and inwardly sighed. His last stone was even heavier then his first, at least by two pounds.* If he released the stone at the wrong moment, then he could make it go high, but not far. He suddenly wondered why he cared so much if he won? He could just throw the stone without a care and end this particular competition. He had given a really good toss that his clansmen would have been proud of, but it felt like there was something else.

For some reason, he found himself looking back at the royal family box. The king and queen seemed to be anticipating something but it was the look and posture of Merida that puzzled him the most. She looked anxious and scared. She looked like she was wringing her hands in her lap. Shae didn't understand her demeanor, unless…she was silently hoping he wouldn't win this competition.

This sparked something inside of him. His stubborn nature and the fact that she was hoping he would lose caused him to grow bold again. It was her. She caused his anger and forced his demeanor to change. Her attitude drove him crazier then Duncan's arrogant one. He knew he had to bring honor to his clan, but now, he had something he had to prove to her. He shouldn't care, but somehow he did.

He gripped the stone tight. He used the same approach as before but he knew that he needed to put as much force as he could behind this heavy stone. He took a deep breath, focused his mind, and went.

Merida watched from her seat, as the stone flew out of Shae's hand. Everyone could see it was heavier stone and no one expected it to go much further then midrange. However, no one expected Shae to put as much force behind the toss, either. The stone flew deftly through the air and as it began its descent, Merida knew it would be close. As it fell to the ground, it landed almost directly next to Duncan's furthest stone, the weight of it caused Duncan's to bounce a little too. The gamesmen rushed out to measure the distance, since it wasn't an obvious difference.

The entire crowd was silent, waiting on the official call. Merida had sucked in a breath, and squeezed her hands tighter. Even King Fergus stood in wait, anxious to hear the call. The gamesman stood up and walked back over to his podium to make the announcement.

"By less then a foot" the gamesman paused. " Clan MacGuffin wins!" came the gamesmen's call.

At that announcement Clan MacGuffin erupted in cheers, along with most of the crowd.

Duncan couldn't believe it!

"No! There has to be a mistake?" he called out. The gamesman shook his head and pointed.

"Go look if you don't believe me, but I stand by my call. It was so close I could barely see it but his stone rests ahead of yours, young lord. I'm sorry."

Duncan looked indignant.

"GAH!stupid…stupid…aruugh!" he screamed throwing another fit. So much for maturing over time.

When the gamesman made his call, Merida let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in. Elinor leaned over and whispered to her,

"I wasn't sure if you would remember how to breathe after holding it in so long." She teased.

Merida glared, un-amused at her mother. Elinor tilted her head towards Fergus and Merida understood. She had almost forgotten the real reason she wanted Shae to win so badly. To save her the embarrassment of having to kiss Duncan. Unfortunately, she now realized that she would have to give that kiss to Shae instead. The one man in Scotland who hated her, and now she had to kiss him. In front of everyone! If the rumors weren't going around already, then they would be after this.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Shae had turned back to his clansmen for congratulations, but was unprepared for the smirks and snickers of the other warriors. He turned to his father,

"A'right da I'm lost. Why is everyone acting like this?" Shae asked.

Kenneth looked at his son strangely,

"You mean you don't know about the prize?"

Shae shrugged,

"Only that there is one. Do you know what it is?"

Kenneth nodded,

"Aye, it's…"

Just then King Fergus yelled,

"Shut it, you lot!"

Every person quit talking, even Duncan stopped his tantrum and everyone turned to face the royal family. Queen Elinor stood next to her husband and nodded for him to continue.

"Congratulations to Clan MacGuffin for winning the stone put competition! Now, come forward, Shae MacGuffin!"

Shae looked at his father, even more confused. Kenneth ushered him to go on, which he did. He was confused about this since it was highly irregular, but then, everything in DunBroch was, at times, irregular. He approached the royal box and kneeled. Elinor was impressed by his reverence. He knew and understood protocol without being instructed or told. A mark of a true nobleman.

Shae kneeled before his king and queen unsure of what was to come. He waited patiently for King Fergus to address him and the crowd. Finally, Fergus spoke, this time not as showy, but more actually to him and Shae looked up at his king.

"Congratulations lad, you showed that you certainly have a powerful throw and that you have what it takes to stay focused and win. So as the winner of the stone throw competition, you win the favor from he princess!" Fergus announced. Shae looked up confused as the king and queen stepped away and Merida stood behind them.

Merida forced a smile, but was shaking as she approached him. She assumed from embarrassment, because there was no way she wanted to do this. Shae kneeled before her with a puzzled look on his face. This was the first time she had gotten near him without him glaring daggers at her, or them beginning a shouting match with each other. Merida sighed deeply. It was now, or never. So with half of DunBroch and all the other clans watching Merida leaned forward to offer the 'reward'. Shae backed away ever so slightly but no one noticed, except for Merida.

She whispered in Shae's ear as she leaned down,

"I'm sorry. This was my father's idea, not mine."

Shae nodded curtly and bowed his head, saying nothing.

Merida swallowed her pride and leant in to kiss his cheek. It was quick and fluid, almost non-existent. But it was just long enough for Merida to feel the scratchiness of Shae's short beard against her lips. It was long enough to leave a tingling sensation against the part of her cheek that gently touched his. And it was long enough for her heart to stop beating.

While most of the people couldn't even tell that she had kissed his cheek, both Merida and Shae were acutely aware of it. She pulled back and stood straight. She was completely sure her face was the same color of her hair in that instant and she hoped that everyone would just go on to the next competition.

Shae looked up at her, his face stoic and stiff. Merida gave a small bow to him. He reciprocated and stood. Fergus then walked over and slapped his hand on the young lord's back, causing him to stumble slightly.

"Good show lad! Well then, off to the next event now!" Fergus called.

Before he could take off, however, Shae placed his hand on the king's shoulder stopping him. Lord MacGuffin noticed this and hurried over to them, catching the last of his son's conversation.

"...would you be willing to hear me out on my theory, your Majesty?"

Fergus nodded,

"Aye, lad. But we should wait until after the games. No need worrying when there is no threat close at hand." Then Fergus turned to go, but Shae gripped his arm again, not letting him leave,

"But my king…"

Kenneth stepped forward,

"Shae, you heard our king! You. Will. Wait. Now, let go."

Fergus stood at full height and gripped Shae's wrist tightly. Lowering his voice dangerously so, he leaned forward into the younger man.

"I'd listen to your father, lad. I respect you for your strength and courage, but only a foolish child dare's to correct his elders."

"Or take hold of his king." Kenneth added heavily.

Shae looked between his king and his father, he knew he could not disrespect them. He believed they were wrong, but he was the young blood, not the seasoned warrior. He admitted defeat and nodded in understanding. He let go of King Fergus' arm and bowed low.

"Forgive me, your majesty. I forgot my place."

Fergus nodded to him and sent Kenneth a knowing look.

"I will hear you out, lad. But these people are here to escape worries, not plan for war. You will have your say in due time, but until then, enjoy the festivities." With that, Fergus turned and walked away from the royal box.

Merida and Elinor had watched the exchange, both somewhat puzzled. Merida cocked her head to the side,

"What do you suppose all that was about, Mum?"

Elinor shook her head,

"I don't know, dear. I haven't seen Fergus use that face on anyone in ages. It's not the look he gives to the boys when they are doing something wrong. It was one he used a long time ago, mostly on insubordinate warriors under him."

Merida looked even more puzzled,

"I wonder what Shae had said to him?"

Elinor gave Merida a sly smile and crossed her arms,

"Shae, now is it? What happened to 'Lord MacGuffin'?"

Merida flushed,

"Mum, donnae start." She warned.

Elinor harrumphed slightly,

"Hmph, alright. Whatever you say dear." Elinor then followed in the direction her husband had gone. Merida watched her go and shook her head. Somehow she had a feeling her parents had more of a hidden agenda then they let on. She looked over to where Shae and his father had been but she didn't see them. Confused at herself again, she stalked off in the other direction. A run with Angus and some archery would help clear her head, she was sure.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Anyone who passed the room that Lord MacGuffin and his son were sharing could hear exactly what was being said. Well, shouted was more like it.

"Shae, King Fergus _will_ hear you out on your theory about the Viking and Angles possible invasion plot. But only after the games are over!"

Shae rolled his eyes, but Kenneth continued.

"He doesn't want to worry any of the other clans during the games. He wants everyone to put their worries away for a short time and enjoy like. Is that too much to ask?"

Shae looked hard at his father,

"It is to me. Why allow what happened in our home, happen here too?

Frustrated, Kenneth sighed,

"Nothing is going to happen Shae! We left our home almost defenseless and because of that, it was easy for those beasts to invade." Kenneth argued.

"No, _you_ left our home defenseless and in the hands of a boy, who didnnae know how to protect _**any**_ of the people loved!" Shae gritted, the anger at himself growing heavy.

Shaking himself free from self-pity, he spat at his father,

"So I'm just supposed to go on with my life, like nothing has happened? Like our family wasn't ripped apart by invaders to our home?"

"Shae…now wait a moment…" Kenneth tried but Shae continued his argument.

"No da'. I won't do this any more!" He was furious now, fighting tears in his eyes. "Maybe _**YOU **_can go on like nothing has happened…but I just can't!"

Loosing his temper, Kenneth turned over a small table stand he was standing by.

"You think that you are the only one who lost someone? Look around you, boy! Everyone is missing family, friends,…lovers…" he trailed off

"She was _my _mother!" Shae screamed.

"And **MY **wife!" Kenneth snapped back. He then lowered his voice. "Donnae talk to me about pain, lad. I lost a wife and two sons that day, Shae!" Kenneth's anger had fell into sadness in an instant. He choked back his tears and reached for Shae's shoulder,

"And now, I'm loosing a third one."

Shae jerked away from his father quickly, and glared angrily at him. Pain, hate, anger, hurt all flashed across the young lords face. He hadn't meant to hurt his father, but in that moment he was too blinded to care. Seeing his father, the strong resilient warrior, begin to break down, was too much for him. Shae fought his inner turmoil. He would not break though. He wouldn't be weak anymore.

In almost a whispered and fighting back his own emotions, Shae stated,

"I lost just as much that day too, da'. Donnae forget that."

Louder and gruffer he added,

"I will not take part in this anymore. When the king wants to listen to me, I will come. But I will _**NOT **_compete in these games anymore! There are more important things, than this."

With that Shae turned on his heel and stomped out the door. Lord MacGuffin watched with tear filled eyes as his oldest son slammed the chamber door. He listened as the heavy footsteps hurried away from the room. Kenneth fell back into the chair that he had been standing by. He put his face in his palm and sighed heavily. Emotions running wild in his mind and heart. He could feel the pricking of water at the corner of his eyes, and this time he did not fight it. For the first time since his wife and two sons had died, Lord Kenneth MacGuffin, wept.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Shae MacGuffin stormed out of the chamber and hurried down the stairs. Blinded by fury and pain, he didn't pay attention to where he was going. It wasn't until he actually ran into Queen Elinor that his clouded mind cleared. He could finally think straight again, but he was also afraid he had injured the queen.

"I'm sorry, your majesty!" He apologized and held her arm to keep her from falling. Elinor had stumbled a bit by the sudden jolt, but was thankful for Shae's strong arm to keep her upright. She looked at the young lord in concern,

"It's quite alright, young man. No harm was done." Looking at him more closely she noticed his demeanor and asked,

"Are you alright, though? You seemed to be in a hurry?"

Shae glanced at her, still fighting the tears and anger in his eyes. He hoped she hadn't noticed. Elinor, being a perceptive mother, could see the emotions and the held tears in the young man's eyes. She didn't say anything though and allowed him to answer her. Shae cleared his throat,

"I was just heading out to clear my head. It has been a busy day."

Elinor nodded, unconvinced at his reason, and added,

"Yes, training my sons early this morning and then winning the stone put tournament, that makes for a full day."

Shae looked her in the eye, brow raised.

"Would you prefer I not train the young princes, your majesty?"

Elinor waved it off,

"No, I didn't mean it that way. Actually, I'm rather happy that the boys are getting some structured instruction. Heaven knows Fergus just spends most of his time recanting war stories to them…" she drifted off then snapped back to the conversation,

"You say you want to clear your head? Well, I know that Merida likes to take rides through the forest with Angus to clear her mind."

At the mention of her daughter, Shae made a slight disgust face. Not much of one, but enough for Elinor to catch it,

"Ah… so Harris was telling the truth. You don't really enjoy my daughters company, do you?"

For some reason, Shea looked away slightly embarrassed. Elinor chuckled lightly at his face,

"Oh, donnae worry about it, young lord. I'm not offended, besides opinions of people _can_ change over time."

Shae still said nothing but glanced away from the queen's face, as if to say 'Yeah, right.' Elinor continued,

"All the boys told me that you have a way with the animals, too. I wouldn't mind if you take Keavy for a ride, at least through the glen. The sun will be setting soon and the glen is beautiful at that time of day. If that doesn't help, then I'm not sure what will."

Shae looked at her, uncertain.

"Are you sure you donnae mind, your majesty?"

Elinor nodded and smiled,

"Sometimes, things pile up inside us and we have no release. It's good to get out and clear your head, " softer, she added, "and your heart."

Shae let out a deep breath and nodded.

"Well then, thank you, my Queen. With your permission, I will take my leave then."

Elinor nodded, but stopped him a moment before he could leave,

"Shae… I mean, young lord. Who taught you so much of the protocols and nuances of royalty? The other young lords are polite and civil, but you act at times, as if, you were born in royalty, yourself."

Shae glanced down and then back up at Elinor.

"My mother. She prepared me for the life a nobleman, my father prepared me for the life of a warrior, and now I am stuck somewhere between the two."

Elinor looked into his eyes. She had seen the pain flash again and it made her heart break for him,

"I'm truly sorry about your loss, young lord. I know that it is hard to lose someone you love so dearly, too soon. You have my condolences."

Normally, Shae would be upset and offended if anyone offered him pity or sympathetic wishes, but coming from the queen, he knew it was sincere and didn't question it. Without another word, Shae nodded and took his leave.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Merida found herself pacing again. Angus rolled around on the grass and snorted. She was muttering to herself and trying to sort herself out. Mimicking Shae's deep voice she mutter,

" '**You** broke tradition,** you** made me look a fool, **you** are to blame for everything.' " Going back to her normal voice, she scoffed,

"Oh yeah, like the Viking attack on his home was _**my fault**_. Honestly, Angus, I don't know what his problem is!" Merida huffed and flopped down next to her big Clydesdale*. She pulled an apple out of her satchel and sliced it with her knife. Offering a piece to Angus, she continued,

"I mean, it's not as if I was like, 'Excuse me, Mr. Viking invaders, could you go down to the MacGuffin clan territory and invade them when their warriors are all away, please? Oh, thank you ever so much?' " She said flippantly and sarcastically.

Angus whinnied his retort to her.

"Oh, I donnae need you being like that too." Merida teased as she brushed her fingers through his mane.

"And what about that Duncan Macintosh? Auughh, another tantrum, I mean, really? Didn't he grow up at all? That and the fact that he wanted to win a **KISS,** from me? Is he crazy? As much as I hate Shae MacGuffin, at least I can stand his stubbornness over that Macintosh arrogance."

Merida sighed and pulled her knees up to her chin,

"At least, Colin Dingwall has no interest in me. Of that I am very grateful." Merida stretched out again, laying her head on Angus' side.

"Mum and Da think that I didnnae notice their little attempt at a set up earlier today during the stone throw match. I didnnae want to kiss anyone, but of the two, at least Shae is…is…" she trailed off as she heard the sound of heavy hooves beating on the ground. Angus rolled over, stood up and snorted. Merida stood as well and watched for cause of the noise. Shortly, a grey blur was in view with a large person riding on its back. Merida recognized the horse as Keavy, her mother's mare. She also recognized the large rider as Shae, even from her distance from them. Shae was riding hard and fast, far out past the glen. Almost recklessly, he tore through the forest. Merida tilted her head to the side, puzzled. Angus snorted and pawed the ground.

" What is he doing?" She asked herself and Angus. Again, Angus snorted and threw his head back. Merida turned to him and stroked his muzzle,

"Do you think we should go after them, boy?"

As if he understood her question, Angus nodded his head multiple times and continued to paw the ground anxiously, wanting to run. Merida laughed at her horses' antics. She mounted him and grabbed a fistful of mane.

"A'right then Angus. Let's show them how to really ride." With that, they took off after the two.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Lord MacGuffin had been traipsing the halls of Castle DunBroch trying to find any trace his son. The longer he searched, the heavier his heart became. He was sure that he had run off somewhere, but had no clue where to look. While he was wandering the halls, he ran into Fergus and Elinor both on their way to their respected dinners. Elinor was the first to notice him.

"My Lord, are you alright?" Elinor asked seeing his bloodshot eyes from his previous hour of mourning.

Kenneth tried to wipe the worry from his face and eyes, but it was too late. The king and queen had already seen his distress. Fergus placed a hand on his friends shoulder.

"You have that look about you, old friend. What is bothering you, so?"

Kenneth sighed,

"It's Shae. He's refused to finish competing in the games. I know he's hurting, but…so many others are too. I…" Kenneth trailed off and Elinor placed a hand on his arm for emotional support.

"Perhaps we should go into the family room, so Lord MacGuffin may sit, dear."

Fergus nodded,

"Aye."

They all made their way to the family room. Elinor pulled up chairs for all of them to sit, when they arrived.

"You were saying, Kenneth?"

"Yes, about Shae?"

Kenneth drew in a deep breath. He knew this would be hard, but it may help him and his son in the end. He began with shaky breath.

"I…I know that he feels like he's to blame for everything that happened, but it's more than that."

Elinor nodded in understanding,

"I caught that too when I spoke with him. I allowed him to take Keavy out to the glen. I thought a ride through the trees might help him. He seemed tense, when I spoke to him."

Kenneth looked up at her,

"Did he say anything? Like what had happened?"

Elinor shook her head,

"No, but I'm a mother and I'm not blind. I could see the pain and… something else."

Kenneth sighed,

"We had an argument before he stormed out of the room. I lost my temper…"Kenneth paused. He looked up at Fergus and Elinor.

"Shae was in charge of the defense against our home. I left him in charge, because I trusted him. I still do. He is still a strong warrior and a good young man, but…" Kenneth drew a shaky breath,

"But the attack happened and… and then he… he found her…"

"Her?" Elinor asked puzzled.

"Your wife, Lady MacGuffin?" Fergus asked

Kenneth shook his head,

"No. No…my second oldest son, Brendan*, found…my wife…Gwen… Gwendolyn*."

Kenneth bowed his head and choked back tears. He didn't want to cry in front of the king and queen, even if they were his friends. He cleared his throat, trying to find the right words.

"No, Shae found…a young woman who…it was his…she was..." He couldn't find the right words.

"Shannon. Her name was Shannon. She was a young woman in our village. Shae had taken a liking to her and they were to be wed."

Elinor gasped and Fergus had a look of shock cross his face.

Kenneth looked Fergus in the eye.

"I wasn't lying to you when I said that I didn't want to control that part of Shae's life. After Princess Merida helped all of us see that choosing love for yourself is better then having it forced on you, I decided to make good on that. I told all of my sons that they could marry for love and it could be anyone they wanted it to be. Gwendolyn was so happy. She never really liked the idea of an arranged marriage for our boys. So when Shae and Shannon fell in love, I knew it was only a matter of time." Kenneth closed his eyes.

"Unfortunately, the Viking attack ended that. They killed men, women, and children. Burned our home, and slaughtered our livestock… When Shae found Shannon… he could tell she had been…that those monsters had*…"

Fergus stopped him,

"It's fine Kenneth. We understand what you mean."

Elinor felt a knot form in her throat.

"To find your lover* in such a state…the poor lad must be devastated."

Kenneth nodded solemnly,

"Aye. He was also the one that found his younger brothers. I feel like it's all my fault because I wasn't there to help, and he feel's like it's all his fault because he _**was**_ there and wasn't able to protect them."

Fergus shook his head,

"It wasn't anyone's fault except the invaders'. Neither you nor Shae could have stopped an entire force on your own. It's a miracle that more lives weren't lost. I'm truly sorry, my friend"

Kenneth nodded in understanding,

"I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm not to blame and neither is Shae. But, I'm afraid **he** will have long, hard journey ahead in his pursuit of personal forgiveness. I can just hope and pray that I donnae lose him along the way too."

Elinor looked out the window at the darkening sky,

"Sometimes those types of journeys have to be traveled in pairs."

Kenneth and Fergus looked at the queen in confusion,

"What do you mean, love?" Fergus asked, unsure.

Elinor turned back to them,

"Sometimes, you need someone else along on the journey to help show you that forgiveness is possible and that life isn't meant to be traversed alone."

Kenneth understood,

"I just hope Shae figures that out, before he does something stupid."

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Malicious clouds formed overhead and thunder began to boom in the distance. But, none of that mattered to Shae at the moment. He raced on, pushing Keavy to her limit. He shouldn't work the queen's mare so hard but he needed to escape and a fast ride was one of the few things that worked for him. Shae was so focused in his own thoughts and pain that he didn't notice the dense fog that began to form around him. Actually, it wasn't until Keavy stopped abruptly from her full gallop he was even aware of his basic surroundings. When she stopped so suddenly, he flew off of her, over her shoulder. Shae took a face full of dirt, mud and, other brown colored minerals that he probably didn't want to know what they were. He spat out the offending earth and gathered himself together. Being thrown from a horse was disorienting and not at all pleasant*. Shaking the remaining dust from his close he walked back over to Keavy, and tried to soothe her. She was acting skittish and whinnied wildly.

"Shhh. Easy now. It's a' right, girl. You're a' right. Nothing's going to harm you here."

"Oh I wouldn't bet on that." Came a voice behind him.

Shae reached for his sword. He turned ready for an attack, but instead he saw an old woman waving an acusing finger at him.

"Ah, Ah, Ah, now, now, young man. We will have none of that rough stuff." The crone warned.

"Who are you?" Shae asked as he sheathed his sword. Still leery of the of the woman's sudden appearance, he sized her up. She was short, but stout. Her hair was high and curly, atop of which sat an old black crow, which made her appearance even stranger. And she had one large eye that seemed like it could look through the heaviest of metal doors and see the other side.

Ignoring his quiet stare, the old woman said,

"Oh, I'm just an old woman who bides her time making wooden objects come to life…" she stammered, " I mean, bring life back into the old dead wood. You know, try to give it a new flair." She tried to cover up her mistake.

Shae remembered the story that Harris had told him about his sister and mother. He had said that Merida had gotten a spell from an old witch that lived in the forest and that she passed herself off as a wood carver. He wondered if this strangely eccentric woman was the bear witch.

"What are you doing here?" Shae asked slowly.

The woman retorted,

"I could ask you the same thing. Not exactly the kind of place a young lord needs to find himself."

Shae then noticed his surroundings. He had somehow ended up at the Callanish* Standing Stones. He didn't notice at first, but now that their size loomed over him, he was a little intimidated by his surroundings and his company. If she truly were a witch, then the Stones would be a catalyst for her.

Shae looked her in the eye,

"I asked first. What are you doing here?"

Shae and the old woman stared at each other. Shae was almost positive that this was the bear witch, even if he had no proof. His instincts usually didn't lead him wrong. She seemed to be sizing him up now, almost peering into his soul.

The old woman stared hard at the young man,

"You are either brave, or stupid, young man. But I can see you are not easily fooled though. I sense it."

"I've spent most of my life learning to read people. You are not what you say you are, are you? So I ask again. Who are you, witch?"

The old woman's eyes went wide and the crow in her hair flapped its wings frantically.

"He figured it out! Oh, no! See I told you this was…" it stopped short of its frantic rant because of the woman's walking stick hitting it upside the head, knocking it down.

Shae knew what she was and had asked her directly for her name. She wasn't allowed to remain silent now. She had to tell him what her real name was*.

"I have to say I'm impressed, young lord. Very well, I guess I have to tell you now." She paused and gave a crooked smile,

"My name is Tearlag*."

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Whew! That took way too long to get it all typed up but good news is…Act 1 is now complete! Now, for Act 2 starting in chapter 5.

I knew going into this chapter it would be long and grueling, but I didn't know that people would start to question if I was over with yet? Um, I did say this would be a long tale, right? However, I do expect the chapters to shorter, just for the fact that each bit is so important, that I really don't want to cross them and have the reader miss something.

I want to give Fett012000 and coldblue a major shout out! Thanks to both of you for all of your help and support during this. Also, thanks to Moonlight Calls, Xx-EmberHaze-xX, buddhistbabe, and DeenaTweety for the review and comments. Thanks to everyone else who has commented, favorited, subscribed and followed this lowly fanfiction author.

Special side note to Deena- I do not plan on giving this story up until it is finished! Unless something unforeseen happens in the near future, I will finish this story. The updates may be slow as I have a full time job, and have multiple side tasks to take care of too, but they will be published.

Okay now onto the fun (sarcastic) "explain all of the asterisks in the story" portion of the author's notes. (I know that this make this even more ridiculously long but I like to break some stuff down, so I can explain myself)

First off: Name Translations

* Tawnee – variant of Tawny (Irish, Old English), and the meaning is "a green field" and/or "golden brown".

* Shannon - Gaelic in origin meaning "old, ancient" (sometimes it can mean "little wise one") and also is the place name of an Irish river. The meaning possibly refers to an ancient Celtic deity identified with the river.

* Brendan – Irish, Gaelic and Celtic in origin. It means "prince"

* Gwendolyn – Welsh in origin. It can mean "White/blessed ring" or "fair bow."

*Tearlag – Gaelic in origin. Possibly means "instigator" (You'll understand why I chose that name later on)

Second: The song that Shae sings

This song is called Come by the Hills. The lyrics written by W. Gordon Smith around the 1930's or the 40's, maybe even before then. I couldn't find and exact date. He was a Scotsman writing about his homeland and even though it is so not in the time period. I thought the lyrics still fit, so I included it. The version that I love of this song is by Celtic Thunder and can be found by going to Youtube and typing in "Come by the Hills Celtic Thunder."

If anyone is interested in listening. I didn't include the Celtic part of the song because that is a whole different song entirely and has nothing to do with Scotland or its people.

Third: The Standing Stones

I actually put the name of the Callanish standing stone in an earlier chapter and forgot to include a footnote about it…but I did include the asterisk in the story…(yeah, silly me) The Callanish standing stones are the actual stone formation/location that the movie Brave bases their stones off of, if I'm not mistaken. I didn't want to have to type, 'the Stones' or 'the Standing Stones' or variation of that over and over again during the story so to add realism I decided to have Shae call them by name. Mostly out of reverence, but he's also a little intimidated by the, since, no one is sure where they came from, or who put them there.

Fourth: (I promise I'm almost done!) When Lord MacGuffin is explaining Shae's distress and attitude changes:

First off, I wasn't going to include the rape of his love at all. He was originally just supposed to find her dead and be all torn up over that. However, I just felt that it made his pain even stronger and real to know that she was not only taken from him by taking her life, but also her innocence too.

That brings me to my second point during this conversation. Elinor was NOT saying that Shae and Shannon were lovers in the physical and intimate sense, but in the 'two people who are in love' sense. That is an old translation of the word since most people now associate the word 'lovers' with two sexually (can I say that?)/physically intimate partners. I wanted to clear all of that up before we got any further into the story, okay?

'Lovers' in this case means 'somebody that you love, especially in the romantic sense. A sweetheart.'

I think that's everything for this chapter. If I missed anything, just yell at me and I will try to explain it in the next chapter. Oh and if you want to know why I wrote the stone throw/put the way I did you can find the rules on the North American Scottish Games Athletics page.

Okay, so maybe it's the North American version, but these seem like they could be used in ancient Scotland times. Plus the movie had them doing tug of war games and…I have no idea what that other thing was. I don't know if that one game was supposed to be an early version of golf (?) or croquet (?) or cricket (?) or a strange version of rugby (?) I'm not sure at all.

Well I hope that this extremely long chapter was enough to keep you satiated until I can get another one posted. Please be patient with me. I have some problems typing fluidly and quickly and I have to edit and re-edit myself constantly. I write everything I type down first in a notebook and then transfer that over to Word so that takes time too.

Again, Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, read, saved, and followed this story. You have no idea what it means to me.

I really do want input for this chapter though. Criticize away! Was it too long? Too many story jumps? Too many characters to keep up with? Way too wordy? Did the story drag? Too descriptive, not descriptive enough? Too many questions still unanswered? Did I accidentally add an inconsistency in the story without realizing it?

(Yes, I know that everyone wants to know why Shae doesn't like Merida. _**I **_know why he doesn't and I'm not revealing the reason until the moment that I have planned)

It also seems like a lot of readers would like the fighting to stop so the romance can start, but I can't justify that drastic of a jump in such a short time. All of the characters and their personalities have become very developed in my head and the story has to focus around peeling away at the layers before anything can happen.

Spoiler Alert: I do plan on adding romance, but it will be gradual and take effect over time. I tried to tease a little with this chapter and the last one, but now things get a little more serious after this chapter, but don't worry, there will be plenty of action and light hearted moments too.

Last food for thought (I promise):

I've seen Brave four times already and will probably see it another few times before it comes to video. Next time I go I want to watch Merida's dress and see if the animators flubbed up big time. If memory serves me right, Merida is wearing the dress she wore at the archery tournament when she falls off of Angus and has the seen with the witch. Elinor makes a mention of her dirty dress when they are both in the kitchen before she eats the cakes/spell to which Merida replies that Angus threw her. Merida leads her mom upstairs to the bedroom, but it never shows or explains if she ever went back to her room, but it seems like (if I remember right) that in the scenes that follow, even up to the end of the movie, Merida is back in the darker teal dress that she wore in the beginning of the film (?) If anyone can confirm this for me please do so. It's been driving me crazy!

Anyway I'm sorry for taking so much of your time,

Have a good night everyone,

Peace and Blessing Upon You!


	5. Chapter 5

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Shae wasn't sure what to make of the witch. He sensed no ill will coming from the woman other than slight annoyance in having to reveal her name.

"Well are you going to stand there all night or are you going to help me?" Tearlag asked him.

Shae looked at her, confused. Tearlag pointed to a huge bundle next to one of the stones.

"Come on, you are a big strong young man. Can't you help out an old woman with a parcel to her home?"

Shae raised a brow at this,

"How do I know this isn't a trick? That you don't intend to enchant or bewitch me once I help you?"

The old witch waved a hand and scoffed,

"Pah. I have no reason to cast a spell on you. Besides," she gave a crooked grin, " how do you know you're not already bewitched?"

Shae wondered at this a second, but looking at the old woman again, he decided she was more eccentric then a danger. Shae walked over and grabbed the giant bundle. He wondered for a moment how she had gotten so much wood inside the satchel, but quickly remembered she was a witch after all. He grabbed Keavy's reins.

"Which way. Witch?"

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Merida raced after Shae and Keavy following in their direction. Unlike Shae, she noticed the countryside change rapidly. That and the fact that the clouds overhead had began a soft rainfall added to both her and Angus' anxiousness. She slowed Angus to a lope as she neared Callanish. Sometimes she would ride out to the stones and find deer and other creatures standing among them. Merida never ventured into the circle to follow them, though. She had had enough of magic to last her a lifetime and had avoided going into the circle for five years now. She wasn't sure if the circle or the stones or the surrounding area was where the true magic was held, but regardless, she took no chances.

She did wonder if Shae had raced past Callanish as her and Angus arrived in the place of the circle. Angus walked the outskirts of the stones cautiously. Merida dismounted to search and listen for sounds of horse hooves again. But the forest was silent, eerily so.

Suddenly a light, soft, almost coo sound caught her attention. Before she turned towards the noise, Merida looked heavenward.

"Oh please don't be a wisp…" she muttered.

Turning, she gave an annoyed face. Sure enough, a bright small blue specter floated near her.

"What do_ you_ want?" She asked rhetorically to the wisp. It beckoned her on, with its arm-like appendages. Merida shook her head,

"Oh no! Last time I followed one of you I almost lost my mum and my life. There is no way I will follow you now."

Still, it beckoned her on but she stood her ground. Merida soon found herself moving towards the wisp, involuntarily. Angus had walked up behind her and began nudging her towards the specter.

"What is it with you today, Angus? Do you want me to be put in danger, you crazy horse?" Merida asked.

Angus snorted in the direction of the wisp. He tried nudging her again, but Merida pushed his head away. Since she would not go, he walked around her and followed the wisp on his own. Merida couldn't believe her eyes. Her horse was actually following the wisp willingly. The last time she had to practically beg him to follow her. Now he seemed perfectly at ease with the creatures. Merida ran after them.

"Angus, wait!" she called

Like last time, the wisps led Merida deep into the forests. She began to recognize some of the trails and landmarks along the way. Finally, it hit her,

"Oh no…" But it was too late. They had already arrived at the little hillside cottage of the witch. The cottage built inside the hillside had apparently been rebuilt, after the exploding cauldron destroyed it. Suddenly, Angus whinnied and happily clopped down the hill. Keavy stood outside of the cottage grazing. Merida almost slapped herself,

"Oh what is that idiot getting himself into?" She slid down the wet slippery hill and snuck over to the window.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Shae was surprised how short of a walk it had been to Tearlag's cottage. He was also surprised by all of the bear themed trinkets that the old woman had carved.

"You have a very…um...unique...collection." he commented.

"Yes, all for sale if you are interested." She answered as the shuffled over to the hearth.

"The last time I made a significant sale was when the princess bought my entire stock! That was a grand day!" she elated.

Shae fingered a small wooden bear necklace.

"Well that explains all of the bear motif knick-knacks my father kept getting for special occasions." Shae muttered to himself.

Tearlag didn't hear him, or if she did, she didn't say anything, but continued scuttling about in the kitchen. Her mood dropped for a moment,

"Anyway, I used the trinket she gave me to make my trip to the Wicker Man Festival. Imagine my surprise when I came back from my trip to a destroyed house!"

Shae snapped his head towards her in shock.

"The princess destroyed your house!?"

Tearlag didn't seemed fazed by it though,

"Would you believe that it wasn't the first time that happened?"

Shae continued to stare at her with a perplexed look on his face,

"You're kidding?" he turned to the crow that was perched on a rafter overhead, "she **is **kidding, right?"

The crow scoffed,

"Caaawww, I wish. If the old hag would remember to warn people before hand about her spells, maybe they wouldn't…." A swift whack of a broom shut the bird up.

Tearlag glared at the offending creature.

"Hush, you useless pillow stuffer. I'm old, give me a break." She then turned to Shae, who quickly backed up, afraid for his safety momentarily.

"Would like some tea?...Or perhaps a…cake, of some sort?"

"…A cake?" he asked cautiously.

Merida, who had been listening in on their conversation through the window, jerked at this.

'If the witch gives him a cake, he will turn into a bear! I have to stop that idiot before he gets himself into trouble.' She resolved.

"Shae,…stop!" Merida yelled, crashing through door. "Donnae take anything from her! She bewitches everything she touches. The cakes are part of her tricks. She will fool you with her spells."

Tearland and Shae both jumped at her sudden appearance. The crow flapped frantically. Shae was also shocked and more then a little perturbed that Merida had followed him here.

"Are you stalking me now, _princess_?" he snapped.

For a wonder, Merida ignored his attitude change and stomped over to him. However, Tearlag did catch it and eyed them both a little warily.

"Like I would waste my time with that! I was trying to see if Angus could catch up with Keavy to race. I didnnae know you were looking for the Witch! If I had, I would have stopped you earlier."

Tearlag looked indignant,

"And that's a fine how do you do. I give her what she asks for and I still take the blame for the bad."

The crow cawed,

"Add another unsatisfied customer to the list."

Shae and Merida had completely ignored them both,

"I wasn't looking for anyone! I was trying to get away from…everything! I wasn't paying attention at all to where I was going. I didn't realize where I was until Keavy threw me when we entered the Circle at Callanish."

"You should've been paying attention, Shae! You could have ridden off a cliff."

"Oh, like you care about what had happened to me?"

"Maybe not _**you, **_but Keavy is my mum's horse."

"Nice to know that my life is lower to you then a horses'."

"Now you're putting words in my mouth... I didnnae say I thought you were less important then a horse. I was just saying that you could have caused both you and Keavy to be killed by being reckless."

"Oh that's real rich coming from you, _Princess_! You are the queen of recklessness!"

As the two argued Tearlag and her avian companion watched the volley go on between the two. After a bit the crow asked her quietly,

"So are you going to stop them anytime soon?"

Tearlag shrugged,

"Let's just wait a bit and see what happens." With that she scuttled back over to the hearth to make tea.

The arguing continued in the background but Tearlag went about her business.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

At that same time, Duncan Macintosh was nursing a wounded ego over a mug of ale. He had excused himself early from the night's festivities and had found a small little corner to sulk in on his own. Or at least he thought he was on his own.

"I donnae know why you are so down? I thought you did admirably today on the field." Duncan could almost hear the smirk in the voice behind him.

"Don't patronize me." He warned, half growling into his mug.

Still the voice carried on,

"I especially enjoyed the little display afterwards, m'lord. That was a nice way to intrigue the princess. Especially since it shows an almost, complete **lack** of maturing over the last five years.*"

Duncan couldn't take it anymore. He slammed his mug down and stood. Angrily, he grabbed the young Dingwall by the collar of his tunic.

"Listen, you air head! I know that I messed up! I know that I made a mistake, but I donnae need you dogging and reminding me every second, now do I?"

Colin put his hands up in defense,

"I was just having a little fun with you. Sheesh, all these clan lords are so uptight during the games. MacGuffin I understand, but you…" Colin paused, "What do you have to be angry for? So what if the princess doesn't fall for your type. It's not like you donnae have a slew of women to choose from anyway."

Duncan let him go and sat back down.

"It's not about that." He nursed the ale again.

Colin, curious as ever, pressed on,

"Well it can't possibly be her charm or refinement that intrigues you. So then, what is it about our fair princess that interests you so?"

Duncan looked peevishly at him,

"If I didn't know any better Colin, I would assume she asked you to stop me from trying to court her."

Colin rolled his eyes and tried to play it off,

"Yeah, because the princess and I are on social friendly terms."

Duncan glared at him over his mug,

"Donnae give me that! I know that you two have some sort of pact going on."

Colin raised a brow,

"And where did you hear that?"

Duncan took a drink.

"I'm truly not as thick as I seem, Colin."

Colin smirked,

"Maybe not, but even you must have noticed the way the princess and our own young lord MacGuffin have been interacting together. And that kiss today, whether it meant anything or not, must have gotten your blood boiling."

Duncan said nothing but continued to down his ale. Colin sighed after a few minutes of complete silence.

"Oh well, I thought I could get you to get over it and move on. However, it looks like you are as stubborn as ever. And until something, or _someone,_ comes along to change your mind, you will continue to make yourself look like a total jackass."

Before Duncan could retaliate, Colin was already up and out the door. Leaving the young lord Macintosh continuing to nurse his wounded pride.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

"Got any 3's?" Tearlag asked, eyeing her hand.

"Awwk….Go fish…" her companion cawed back.

Tearlag sighed and drew a card. Out of her peripheral vision she could see that the princess and the young lord were still arguing. The topic had changed directions multiple times, but the young man kept coming back to the princess' lack of responsibility and stubbornness of attitude. Both of which the princess pointed back onto him.

"Really Tearlag, this has gone on long enough. I'm getting a headache….caw."

Tearlag looked at him and nodded.

"I agree. I thought I could let this pass with a little time. However, those two are so blind and stubborn that if someone doesn't step in, I think they could fight for all eternity."

The old crow got a glint in his eye,

"What do you have in mind, Tearlag?"

"You'll see." She grinned.

"You have got to be the most frustrating creature in the whole world!" Merida shouted, jabbing a finger into his face.

"And _**you **_have to be the most thoughtless, selfish woman that ever was or will be!" Shae snapped back at her.

"Thoughtless and selfish?!" she asked angrily.

"Is there an echo in here?" Shae glanced around comically, then glared back at Merida,

"Yes, you!" he growled.

Just as Merida opened her mouth to speak, Tearlag used that chance to interrupt them.

"Alright that's it! I have heard just about enough out of the both of you!" Tearlag jolted out of her chair angrily.

Shae and Merida had both forgotten she was even there, or that this was her home. Tearlag was about to remind them just who and what she was.

"I think that it is about time, that you two learned a lesson on dependence and temperance."

Merida backed away slightly,

"What do you mean, witch?"

"Exactly as I said Princess. You two will learn to work together and to understand one another. Until that time, Scotland will never let you return home."

Shae looked confused,

"Scotland won't let us go home? But, Scotland is our home!"

Tearlag seemed to flare up at this. Merida noticed the flame in the hearth fire begin to rise and grow as her anger and voice grew too.

"Listen to me, young lord. This land is ancient and full of mysteries that a simple human mind hasn't the ability to comprehend. The mists, the wisps, the stones,…me…we are all part of an ancient magic that dwells in these lands. You would do well to remember that while you try to learn from this lesson."

Merida was listening and watching between the two, but also her attention focused on the hearth behind the witch. As the witch's temper grew, so did the flames, but Shae seemed to be unaware of any upending danger.

Shae reached for his sword, but a blast a wind knocked him back into Merida. She stumbled and on reflex reached out for his arm. The flames burned so bright in the hearth that Merida's eyes couldn't take the blinding light. Even Shae was having difficulties focusing on the witch.

Tearlag had begun chanting in an ancient form of what sounded like Gaelic. They were words that neither Shae nor Merida could understand, but with each line the light grew brighter. The upstart wind that had blown Shae back was circling around the two violently, like a small tornado. Trinkets, knick-knacks, statues all flew around the room and broke apart. Knives and sharp, shiny, pointed objects also flew wildly around the room. Merida felt the color drain from her face and glancing up at Shae, she was sure he wasn't feeling too courageous at the moment either. Tearlag's almost disembodied voice laughed wickedly at their fright.

"Shae! Look out!" Merida yelled. The winds blew loudly and shook the small cottage and the light blinded them both. Fearful for herself and even for the young lord Merida grabbed him and buried her face into his chest. Instinctively, he gripped her tightly in an embrace and braced for a loud explosion or crash.

It never came. Instead, the two were met with a sudden, eerie silence.

After a few minutes of nothing happening, Merida pulled slightly away from Shae to view their surroundings. A thick mist had surrounded the two and as it cleared, slightly, she could see the giant standing stones looming over them. As they each took in their surroundings a moment, they both realized that they hadn't let go of the other yet. They pushed away quickly, and awkwardly. Merida felt her face heat up and prayed that it wasn't as red as the temperature made her think it was.

Shae cleared his throat.

"Well, that was interesting." He stated slowly, as if he didn't fully believe it himself. "We should head back to the castle now, I think." He went to turn, but Merida stopped him.

"Wait Shae! Didn't you hear the witch? Until we learn whatever 'lesson' she wants us to, Scotland won't let us go home."

Shae scoffed,

"You actually believed that old witch? She was probably trying to frighten us. Besides, how can not going home teach **you** about getting along and controlling **your** temper?"

Merida bristled at this,

"What do you mean '_**me**_', MacGuffin? Last time I heard her, it was because of both of us, not just me!"

Shae glared angrily at her and was about to tell her off, but a whiney nearby caused him to pause. The thick mist was still circling the two of them and it unnerved Merida slightly. She could see that Keavy and Angus were grazing nearby and seemed unfazed by all that had transpired. Momentarily forgetting his anger, Shae turned back to Merida.

"Now we can go back to the castle quickly. Let's just both forget that this ever happened."

Merida scoffed at him,

"I'm still betting the witch has something up her sleeve still planned for us. We should wait."

Shae rolled his eyes,

"Whatever, _Princess._ I'm going back to the castle."

Merida turned and crossed her arms in a huff,

"And I'm staying here."

"Fine!" he spat.

"Fine!" she yelled back at him.

But as Shae began to stomp away he felt a weight pull him back a little in his left wrist. At the exact same moment, Merida felt a jerking motion in her right one. Both turned quickly to see they were still less then 5 feet from each other.

Shae looked puzzled,

"What is this?" he jerked his left wrist towards himself and Merida stumbled slightly towards him.

"Oh no." she moaned.

The thick mist that had been circling around them had blocked their view of anything lower than Merida's shoulders, but now it was dissipating around them. Merida lifted her right hand up past the mist and into her view. A thick cord of twine was twisted around her wrist like a bracelet and a rope of twine came off of it on one side. She didn't even need to guess where the other end of the twine rope was.

"Shae lift up your left hand." Merida ordered. Shae didn't know what she was on about, but did as she asked. Tied to his left wrist was a thick twine also much like a bracelet, with a cord of twine off the one side too. Merida rolled her eyes heavenward and groaned loudly.

"Ugh! That witch! She planned this from the start, I just know it!"

"Planned what?" Shae asked.

Merida held her wrist up to him and waved it frantically,

"Uh, hello. Do you not see this? YOU and I are TIED together!"

Finally the situation came into focus in Shae's mind. He was normally more aware of things, but after the display that Tearlag had made in the cottage, he was out of sorts. The situation became a lot more serious and he began pondering how to get out of this predicament. There was no way he was going to be stuck tied to this woman for any amount of time if he could help it. He would rather cut off his own hand and be done with her, then play the fool for some witches scheme.

"We have to get this off!"

"No, really? Why didnnae I think of that?" she asked sarcastically.

"Donnae start, princess! This is all your fault anyway!"

"_**MY Fault!**_ Excuse me? **I **was trying to stop **you** from making an idiotic decision. I mean really, who trusts a witch?"

Shae deadpanned a moment,

"Not to point fingers, _Princess, _but wasn't it **you **who went to Tearlag five years ago for a spell to 'change your fate' or some nonsense like that."

Merida could feel her anger flare up,

"I didnnae go to her on purpose! The wisps led me there! To her!"

"And **you** didnnae think to NOT use magic to solve your problems?" Shae shot back.

"I was young, confused, angry, and hurt! I wasn't ready to get married, and my mother kept pressuring and angering me. And it's not like my choices were anything grand to begin with!"

After the last part of that sentence left her mouth, she couldn't believe she said it. She covered her mouth with her hand and sucked in her breath. It was too late though; the damaging words had been loosed. Shae's anger reached a new level. He leaned down into her, mere inches from her face. He spoke slowly and coldly.

"Yeah, well, the _prize_ wasn't all that grand either, _Princess."_

Merida dropped her hand and balled it into a fist. She felt the twine on her wrist tug and pull tight but she ignored it for the moment. She stood up and met his hard gaze. No chills, no shivers, just deep breathing to control her temper as much as possible. She spoke to him just as slowly and coldly as he had.

"No one made you compete, MacGuffin. If you felt that way five years ago then you should have forfeited your place."

"You just donnae get it do you? We_ have _to follow protocol. **We **_have_ to follow traditions. You think that just because **you** are the princess, and you broke one part of tradition then any of us can? It doesn't work like that!"

"Then why make a stand the first night of before the games this time, Shae?!"

He dropped his gaze from her for a heartbeat, but she continued.

"Why risk hundreds of years of tradition, if you had no true reason not too?" She did soften her speaking slightly,

"I donnae know why, but a part of me respects you for your decision. Granted it's a very small part. And I know that my da' convinced you to compete in the games, but the fact that you would have the courage to take a stand, opposite of tradition,… that tells me that maybe you donnae hate everything I've ever done."

"And again, the topic comes back to you." He said sardonically. Shae felt the twine on his wrist tighten slightly at this little remark. He looked down and remembered the whole reason that their argument had started. Merida finally noticed it too. They both watched as the twine rope that separated them actually shortened in length.

"What's happening?" Meirda asked, confused.

"It's shortening." Shae replied.

Merida was almost tempted to hit him.

"Thank you for that, since I couldn't see that part for myself."

Shae shrugged,

"You asked a question, I gave an answer."

Merida could feel her frustration rising again,

"Alright enough! We need to find the witch,.."

"Tearlag." Shae interrupted.

Merida sighed,

"…Tearlag, and see if she will remove the spell, which I highly doubt, or if she can give us a clue as how to break the spell."

"I could always cut your hand off and see if that works." Came Shae's retort.

Merida glared up at him, not sure if he was serious or not. She took off towards Angus and Keavy, who continued to stand and graze as if nothing had happened, in the last hour or so. Her quick turn and walk, jerked Shae along unwillingly. It was also then that Merida looked above and noticed the dark night sky. Shaking her head and muttering to herself, she wondered if her parents were worried about her yet. Did they even know she missing? Were they looking for her? She dreaded what the talk would be when people realize both her and Shae had gone missing at the same time.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Queen Elinor sat down at her dressing table and brushed her long hair. It was getting late and she knew that tomorrow would be another long day with the tournaments. Merida would be competing in the Sheath toss and the boys were all going to try their hands with the junior games too. She wasn't sure how she felt about Harris competing though. She worried for her youngest son, and didn't want him to overexert himself. As she was thinking about her children, her husband Fergus barged through the door. To which, she jumped and dropped her brush.

"Ah HA! There's my beautiful Queen!" He laughed.

Elinor soon found herself off the chair she was sitting on and twirled around the room in drunken merriment. Fergus leaned into kiss her, but Elinor brought her hand up between her face and his. Fergus looked hurt, but undeterred. He leaned in again, but this time Elinor gave him 'the look'. That sobered him up in a heartbeat.

"What is it Elinor?"

"Fergus, you smell like liquor and sweat. I love you dear, but there is no way you can be romantic right now. "

Fergus cocked a brow and smirked,

"Oh…?

He accepted her challenge. He fell onto the giant four-poster bed and pulled Elinor over with him.

"FERGUS!" she squealed.

The king laughed as she hit his arm playfully.

"You bear of a man!" she giggled.

"HA HA…Now I thought a _**LADY**_ didnnae hit?"

Elinor glared at him, but the twinkle in her eye denied her anger.

"When it's just the two of us, Fergus, I'm not a lady. I'm your wife."

He grinned and hummed in approval,

"Hmmm… of that I am most glad about, lass." For a third time he leaned in but Elinor, again, stopped him. She placed her index finger over his lips.

"Bath first, then we'll talk."

Fergus sighed in defeat, but complied. He got up and headed towards the door. Grumbling in a teasing way as he went.

"You know, if I didnnae love you so much already, I might be offended."

"You'll get over it dear." Elinor called out to him.

She had to shake her head at her husband's antics. She knew that he only acted this was when all of the clans gathered together. She loved her husband dearly, but wondered at his methods at times. Just like earlier that day, when he agreed to young Macintosh's request. Fergus had no idea that Shae would win the toss, so why did he do that? Elinor shook her head again. It was bad enough that Merida was fighting her over her attempts to break Merida's resolve about the courtships and marriage. If Fergus was going to try his hand at matchmaking, she could only pray that she could at least keep her sanity.

She wondered where Merida had gone to after the stone put game, but when she arrived back at the castle and saw that Angus was gone, she knew where she was. That was why she suggested Shae go for a ride on Keavy. What Elinor didn't expect was for Harris to be right in his evaluation of Shae's attitude towards Merida.

As Elinor thought of ways to smooth over things between Shae and Merida there was a rumble of thunder off in the distance.

"Another stormed filled night it seems." Elinor sighed. She walked over to her window and looked at the stables. A horse stood in Angus' stall, so she assumed it was Angus and that Merida had made it back.

"She must have went to bed already." Elinor mused.

She looked again but didn't see Keavy in her stall. She felt a twinge of worry bubble up inside of her.

'I hope that the MacGuffin lad is all right. This would be dreadful weather to be stuck out in.' She thought as a flash of light shot across the sky.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Duncan Macintosh was drunk. Horribly so. His head was spinning and his vision was slightly blurred. He wasn't even aware of the hour or day at the moment. A soft voice from behind him startled him a bit.

"M'lord, are you alright?"

He turned and saw a young woman standing next to the chamber door with a tray in her hand.

"What do you want, girl?" he asked sharply. He wanted to be left alone and she was intruding on his sulking. Unphased by his harsh voice, she moved closer to him and he noticed she had a kettle and a cup on the tray she was holding.

"I thought you might need this, m'lord. You might find it easier to compete in the games tomorrow if you have some." She offered the contents of the tray to him.

"What is that?" he asked curious this time and less harsh.

The woman smiled softly,

"It's just an herbal remedy tea, m'lord. But it should help fight the affects of the ale later. No sense in you being off in the games tomorrow."

He looked up at the servant girl as she poured him a cup of steaming tea. She had golden, almost white hair that was a little longer then shoulder length, which she wore without a covering. She also wore a long pale green dress made of rough materials. Her eyes were a deep emerald green that looked almost black in the dim lighting. Duncan found that most of her features were very plain, but the young woman intrigued him for some odd reason. She hadn't thrown herself at him yet, but she also wasn't disgusted by him either, like the princess seemed to be. She was genuinely being friendly to him.

"Do you like it m'lord?" she asked softly again.

Duncan realized he must have been staring at her strangely. He reached down and took a sip of the hot tea. It burned but it was strong enough that he could already feel himself sobering up more.

"Thank you. It's good."

The girl nodded,

"Then I will take my leave, m'lord. I just wanted to make sure you would be alright for tomorrow."

With that, the girl bowed, turned on her heel, and headed towards the door swiftly. Duncan called after her,

"Wait! What is your name?"

The girl stopped,

"My name is Kenna*, m'lord," she paused a moment and then turned back to him again,

"For what it's worth, young lord, I think that you did wonderful in the games earlier. Even if you didn't win."

Before Duncan could say anything to her, she had hurried out the chamber, closing the door behind her. Duncan sat, staring at the door a moment or two, wondering what had just happened. He was confused at himself and the strange young woman that appeared out of nowhere and disappeared just as fast.

On the other side of the door Kenna put her hand over her heart and let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in.

"There you are! I've been looking all over the castle for you!" came a harsh, 'loud' whisper from her left.

Kenna jumped and had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming. She hit the offending person in the shoulder when they got closer.

"Honestly, Nessa*! How many times have I asked you NOT to do that?" Kenna grumbled. Her cousin, Nessa, had stepped into the hall light. She was a lot taller then Kenna and had dark brown, curly hair. Where Kenna was short and rounded, Nessa was tall and angular. Her features were sharper and more elongated. The only trait that these two cousins shared was their dark eye color.

"Well it's all your fault. Running off like that. Not telling me where you are going. I'm responsible for you, you know. If you get in trouble, then so do I. You know how Maudie is."

Kenna waved Nessa off,

"Oh, Maudie is a sweetheart, Nessa. You just haven't figured out how to get yourself out of trouble, my dear cousin."

Nessa rolled her eyes,

"Yeah, whatever you say, Kenna. Maudie expects us to be up before dawn to help prepare the meals for the clans so we had better get some rest. The storms have started again and it will be a hassle with the meal in the morning."

Kenna nodded and followed her cousin to their quarters.

"Another stormy night I won't sleep through." She muttered.

"Not my problem, now move!" Nessa teased.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Merida and Shae trudged through the rain to the place where they **thought** the witches cottage had been. They had started off on foot because Shae didn't think it would take them very long to reach the cottage, but every time they seemed to get a little closer, a fog or mist would circle them and cause them to get turned around. And then the rains had started. Shae was holding onto Keavy's reigns and Angus followed Merida closely of his own accord.

"I still donnae see why we can't ride the horses! We have them here. Why walk?"

Shae sighed at her whining.

"Because, _Princess,_ neither horse probably couldn't carry our combined weight. And with this," he held up his bound hand, "thing connecting us together, it would be stupid to try to ride separately."

Now Merida rolled her eyes,

"You could give Angus the benefit of the doubt, you know. He carried my three brothers, a giant tapestry, and me through the forests at a full gallop to reach the standing stones."

Shae huffed at her,

"Yeah well, in case you missed it_ princess,_ I am not that tiny of a man. I was almost afraid to ride Keavy, but she seemed all right with me, but I'm not sure how she would do with two bodies at once. Besides, are you afraid of a little dirt and mud?"

Merida grumbled to herself as she stumbled over a tree root that was unearthed in the rain. She fell forward into him and he stopped, glaring at her.

"It wasn't my fault! Blame the stupid tree." She defended herself.

"It was here before you were, _princess_."

She was getting tired of his attitude and decided to throw it back at him.

"Alright! Would you knock it off with the 'princess' stuff already, MacGuffin? My name is Merida. Did you get that? MER – I – DA!"

Shae shook his head,

"Why do you care? You _are_ the princess, after all. I thought you reveled in your position. Especially since you use it over people."

Merida looked indignant,

"I do not! I don't use my title at all! And I'm not just a princess you know. That's only half of who I am!"

"Yeah, well when you figure out who or what the other half of you is, let me know. I want to warn it about the half that's right here." he pointed at her.

She was about to say something back when a loud crash of thunder interrupted their conversation. Merida winced as she felt he twine tighten again and watched as it shrank.

"Ugh, we have to stop fighting, Shae. Or this thing will shorten to the point where we will end up molded together."

He stopped and turned to her.

"I didnnae get us into this! If you hadn't have showed up when you did, then none of this would have happened."

"I already told you I was trying to help you!" then quieter she added to herself,

"Or at least, I thought I was."

Shae raised a brow when she became quiet. The rain poured down over them and he wanted to find that cottage so they could get in out of the rain. He hadn't packed any kind of covering or hood, since he didn't think he was going to get lost in the woods, overnight and in the rain. Merida on the other hand had a heavy fur throw on. It was like a hooded cape, but made from, what he assumed was bearskin and fur. Shae turned and walked on ignoring the woman behind him that he was currently tied to. Keavy and Angus began to whinny and tremble. Merida reached for Angus' muzzle.

"Shhh… its okay boy. You're alright."

Shae looked at her,

"Maybe that's a good sign. We might be close."

Merida nodded and followed.

It wasn't too long until they stumbled, literally, upon the cottage. Shae miss-stepped off a small embankment and slid down the slick muddy hillside. Merida was right behind him and landed on his gut at the bottom of the drop.

"Oahff! I think you broke something." Shae grumbled.

Merida pursed her lips at him and gave him and un-amused look from under her hood,

"Get over it, you big baby. I'm not _**that**_ heavy."

"Says you." He grunted.

She pushed herself up and stood. Shae followed suit. The cottage lay in front of them. Shae steadied himself and drew his sword. Merida had her bow and quiver with her, but couldn't effectively use them with the twine tied to her wrist. Instead she grabbed her small knife and slunk over to the door.

"I wanna know what happened to the 'Never conjure where you carve' rule." Merida muttered out loud. She cautiously pushed open the door and looked inside. The cottage was bare! No knick-knacks, no trinkets, no crow and no witch! Merida flung the door the rest of the way open.

"I suppose subtly isn't your strong suit, is it?" Shae asked rhetorically.

"Really? Again!?" she asked the empty room. She went to step inside but forgetting her lesson from the past, stepped on a cord, just like before, and triggered a chain reaction.

"MERIDA!" Shae yelled. He saw the blade shoot forward and out of reflex grabbed Merida and pulled her too his chest. The knife stuck into the door and he relaxed a little. Merida pushed away from him.

"What are you doing, Shae?"

Shae looked at her incredulity,

"Uh, how about saying your life?"

Merida shook her head.

"I was fine, even without your help. I knew that was coming. She tried it before."

Merida and Shae both stepped into the cottage. Even Shae was astounded by the fact that the cottage was empty. It also didn't have a woodsy earthy feel anymore. The wooden beams and bear motif items that had decorated the store/cottage earlier were gone. The walls were stone and the whole house felt cold and hard. Unwelcoming and foreboding in a sense. He could tell that this was the home of a witch, even if its other décor said other wise. Shae noticed a giant cauldron that sat in the middle of the room. Merida was already aware of it and waited for him to approach first.

Shae wasn't sure what to expect, and neither was Merida, for that matter. Last time the witch had laid out vial with different liquids in them. This time is was just an empty room with a cauldron. No vials.

As they walked up to it, the liquid that fell when the knife flew at them caused the reaction in the cauldron. The witches disembodied 'head' floated over the cauldron.

"Hello again, Princess, and to you too, young lord. I had to leave on urgent business to the south. Druids and the like, you know. By now, you should have discovered what the cause and effect of the spell that I cast on you both has had and will have, on you two." Merida and Shae glanced at each other uneasy.

"You both are very strong in your own rights, but without balance, you will fail. Compromise and temperance will help you with the spell, but that is not all that is required. I can't tell you how to break the spell, that's against the rules, but I can give you this advice:"

Suddenly the room became darker, and the green glow turned red and bathed the room in a blood-like color. Shae began shifting his gaze to various corners of the room, waiting for something to come out at them. It never came. Instead, the witches voice filled the room again,

"The **ties** that **bind** are strong and true,

Until the spell be loosed **you.**

For in your **fate** you find the sum,

The **twine** will **break** when **two** are **one**"

"Thank you for visiting the Crafty Carver!" The witches 'head' laughed and dissipated into the air.

"Wait! You're supposed to say it again!" Merida yelled at the empty cauldron. Shae eyed her strangely,

"Say what again?"

Merida looked frantic for a moment.

"The clue! Last time she repeated it a second time. I can't remember all of that only once!"

"The **ties** that **bind** are strong and true,

Until the spell be loosed **you.**

For in your **fate **you find the sum,

The **twine** will **break** when **two** are **one**" Shae rambled it off.

Merida was shocked,

"You remembered all of that after she said it only once?"

Shae shrugged,

"I've always had an ear for poetry and songs. It rhymed so it was easy for me to follow."

Merida looked at him impressed, but then her demeanor changed.

"So…what do we do now?" she asked him.

Shae sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. It was still pouring outside and he really didn't want to trudge back to DunBroch in the rain.

"Well we are both tired, soaked to the bone and not going to get far in the rain. I suggest we rest in here for the night so we can be in, out of the rain."

Merida agreed with that. She didn't want to go back outside in the rain and her body was tired and achy.

"Alright, so how do we do this?" she gestured to the twine and rope connecting the two of them. Shae beckoned her over to help him search a corned of the cottage, ignoring her question at first. He found a few old burlap sacks and one big old blanket, and he laid them out in front of where the hearth would be.

"Just lay down and get a comfortable as you can, _princess._ The accommodations will have to work for you."

Merida rolled her eyes again.

"Idiot. I have no problems with sleeping on the ground. I meant, how do we sleep with our hands tied together? Because, I am not cuddling with you, that is for sure!"

'Trust me _princess,_ I truly would rather cut my own hand off then have that happen." Shae stated seriously.

Merida huffed and sat down on the floor. Shae had to follow because of the twine rope. They ended up laying down facing away from each other almost back to back. The each put their twined arms behind them at an awkward angle. It was uncomfortable for them both, but it was the easiest way they could find to sleep without making it more awkward between them. Merida laid there in silence a while listening to the rain, thunder, and wind outside. She hoped that tomorrow they could find a quick solution to this problem. The witch hadn't mentioned any time restriction on the spell, but she didn't want to take any chances. Tearlag wasn't even being paid for a spell this time, so they really must have done something to tick off the old witch. She just hoped that her and Shae didn't end up killing each other before they broke the spell.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Okay guys, another chapter has come and gone! The Adventure part of this story will begin….NOW!

I apologize for the late update on this. I had more trouble with this chapter then I thought I would. I had to balance out serious with comedy and not break the integrity of the story that I have established. Parts of this chapter moved too slowly for me, but when I took them out and re-read them I thought it made more sense to leave them in and expand on them later.

Please note that I do try to make sure that if I introduce a character or subplot into the story that wasn't there before or falls back onto an earlier chapter, I've been trying to follow up with them in later chapters. That being said: Yes there will be Vikings and proof that the Angles and Vikings are working together (This happens later on, but it is going to happen). There will be follow up with the clan lords and their sons and wives (I will be jumping back and forth between characters places and points during these chapters).

I do have a confession though. I'm not sure how much more I will include the brothers into the story until it gets closer to the end of the story. I have some side mischievous antics planned, but they don't really add to the story so they may not be added.

Okay I don't think that I added many footnotes this time other then the names of the two girl cousins and the one about Duncan. If you want to know who they (the girls) are, I've given the two young servant girls that always try to calm and help Maudie in the movie, names and personalities. I have wanted to add them into the story and couldn't find a good place in the earlier chapters so here is their big debut .

Name Translations:

Kenna - Gaelic – "fair one"

Nessa _ Gaelic/Latin – "holy"

The note about Duncan not maturing was for me so I could explain myself. I think Fett pointed out in the last chapter about how Duncan acted just like he did in the movie, and I would like to clarify something. I am trying to stay true to the characters personalities that were established during the movie, (except Shae, but that is a whole new can of worms that will be explained WAY later in the story), but I'm trying really hard to show how they have changed over time. Someone pointed out to me once that 5 years is a long time and that people can change, which I agree with, to an extent. There are certain patterns and habits that a person develops in their early years that, if it goes unchecked, stay with that person the rest of their life. Has anyone here every seen Bridezilla's or shows like that? Shows like that have adults on them all the time that have tantrums and other types of meltdowns. (Which they do for ratings a lot of times, but still… )

I think that you all will start to see a huge maturation of the character development for all the characters in the upcoming chapters.

The other thing I made the comment mark about the five years thing was a big "MY BAD, GUYS!" I didn't realize until after I saw the movie again (5 times now), that the Games were already an established part of their yearly traditions. *facepalm!*

So when I started my story in the last part of June, I was effectively saying that they hadn't established the games until the first one, from the movie and that they waited 5 years to have another one. So coldblue, since you are a history major, you may deduct points off of my grade for a horrible inconsistency from the actual movie canon.

One other thing I wanted to ask everyone. Does anyone not like how I made the Queen more…sly and mischievous? I always liked to assume that the brothers got their devilishness from Elinor and not Fergus, so I play up her teasing and her banter with her family. Plus, I think that after the whole 'bear incident' she would really lighten up anyway, because she wouldn't want to miss time or merriment with her family

Again I apologize for the long delays in putting these chapters out. I do have a full time job and I am very involved in a lot of different activities. So please, please, PLEASE, don't give up on me. It may take me 2 or 3 weeks to get everything right but I will get you another chapter that's at least 10 to 15 pages story length and 5 pages of after notes. :p (j/k I am sorry about the length of these too)

Have a great night(and day) everyone,

Peace and Blessing Upon You


	6. Chapter 6

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

Warning: Lots of character jumping and rollercoaster emotions lie ahead. Oh, and I've included some more "colorful" language too. The last half of this chapter gets very, very gruesome in parts…You have been warned.

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Merida awoke with a major pain in her arm. That, coupled with a horse nudging her head, was a very rude awakening for her.

"Angus, stop it!" she swatted sleepily at him. Angus snorted in her face and she sat up abruptly.

"Oh gross, Angus! Really?" she asked angrily.

"Cannae you be quiet?" came a gruff voice from beside her. Then Merida remembered the evening prior. The witch, the spell, going back to the witches house…wait.

Merida looked around quickly. The same thick blanket of fog that had circled them yesterday was around them again.

'How did the mists get inside the cottage…and how did Angus for that matter?' she pondered to herself. Then the fog began to clear and the Standing stones came into focus. Merida stared wide-eyed at their surroundings. She reached over and shook Shae's shoulder a little.

"Shae." She whispered.

He grunted in response but didn't move or open his eyes.

Merida shook him harder.

"Shae!" she stated louder and more forcefully.

He still didn't acknowledge her. Fed up with him ignoring her, she balled her fist and hit his shoulder as hard as she could. To her hand, it felt like she was hitting a large wooden beam, but it was enough to get her point across.

"Oofh!" he grunted in light pain. He rolled over and glared at her through half lidded eyes.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked sleepily, but still gruffly.

Merida huffed,

"Oh, nothing much. Just the fact that…some how we ended up back at Callanish!"

Now, Shae sat up too, albeit, a lot more slowly then Merida had. He too glanced around at their surroundings and cursed to himself.

"Dammit! That witch did curse us."

Looking around somewhat amazed, he sighed,

"Scotland really won't let us go home until we break this spell, will it? The mists are keeping us from home."

Merida rolled her eyes,

"Isn't that what I tried to tell you last night, Shae?"

Shae ignored her comment and stood up. Merida sighed heavily, annoyed with Shae's attitude. She looked down at the twine rope cuff around her wrist and grimaced.

"So….what are we going to do about this?" she asked, holding up her wrist to him. Shae turned to her and raised a brow,

"Why are you asking me? You are the one who dealt with Tearlag before, _princess._"

Merida glared at him, annoyed.

"Again with the 'princess' stuff? I thought we covered this already, Shae?"

"_**We **_covered nothing, _princess." _

Merida could feel her blood begin to boil. The young MacGuffin lord knew exactly how to get under her skin and bury deep. She was about to say something sharp back to him, but caught herself. Glancing down at the twine wrapped around her wrist she decided to keep her mouth shut. No sense in tempting fate anymore then they already had with the rope. She didn't want the twine to shorten anymore and the easiest way to avoid that seemed to be to stop fighting and arguing with her unwanted traveling companion. At this moment, Duncan Macintosh seemed more enjoyable company then the current predicament that they were in.

Sighing again, Merida watched as Shae dug through the knapsack on Keavy's saddle. It was then something struck her. The distance between them was greater then the length of the rope from the night previous. It was almost as if it had lengthened overnight.

Shae was busy trying to find useful tools in Keavy's satchel, when Merida interrupted him again.

"Hey Shae!"

Now it was his turn to sigh. Without turning around, he growled to her,

"What is it now Merida? I'm a little busy here." He snapped.

She was taken aback that he had used her first name and not a title this time, but didn't acknowledge her shock. Instead, she played off with a snarky remark.

"Yeah, I can see that. Donnae you find it odd that we can be so far apart? Especially after how short the rope became last night."

Shae stopped scrounging and looked at the rope again. His gaze followed the distance between himself and Merida, and inwardly shouted for joy. They were a great 10 to 15 feet way from each other.

"How….?" He began, but trailed off.

Merida shrugged again,

" Maybe the rope lengthens when we donnae fight or we are asleep. Who knows?"

Shae hummed to himself as he dug,

"But it cannae be that simple. There's got to be a catch somehow…" he trailed off again and continued to dig.

"Aha! I think I found something that might help our current predicament though." Shae pulled out a long sharp dagger from the satchel on Keavy's saddle.

Merida's eyes widened slightly,

"And what, pray tell, is that for? I thought you were just joking about cutting off my hand last night." She paused her anxiousness fading. She then smirked slightly,

"Or were you actually going to offer yours instead?"

Shae rolled his eyes at her and scoffed,

"Uh…no. I'm very much attached to all of my appendages, thank you very much, _princess._"

"And there he goes again…"

"What was that?"

Merida looked away from him quickly.

"Nothing…"

Shae looked at her strangely and shook his,

"Alright…well, I thought of something that we could try though."

Holding up the bent piece of twine to illustrate his point.

"I'm going to cut the rope."

Merida stared at him like he was crazy.

"And you actually think that will work?"

Shae sighed exasperatedly at her,

"I never said it _would _work. I'm just going to try and see what happens." He shrugged.

"Who knows, it may work. You sewed a tapestry back together to end the bear curse on your mother."

"It wasn't just sewing the tapestry that ended the curse. It was the bond between my mother and I that was mended." Merida became quiet, "I almost learned that too late."

Shae eyed her for a moment and then went back to the rope.

"It still wouldn't hurt to try."

Sobering up to her normal self, Merida leaned back against one of the large stones she was sitting next to and gestured for him to continue.

"No, by all means, please go ahead. Prove me right. But donnae cry to me when you end up cutting your hand before you cut the rope."

Shae glared at her,

"Smartass." He muttered.

"I heard that."

Silence followed as Shae went to work and effectively ignored her during his task. He worked on the rope with quick sawing motions and to Shae's delight the dagger's sharp blade was having an effect.

"Ha!" he laughed. "See it **is** working."

"What!?" Merida shrieked. "How?"

She got up from her spot and kneeled next to him. She watched in amazement as the blade cut the rope.

Shae looked up at her and smirked slightly.

"See! And you said it wouldn't work."

Merida fought the urge to hit him, but continued to watch the twine rope. Suddenly, the cut that Shae had made in the rope wove itself back together! The twine began to move and 'heal' itself before her very eyes and she gasped at the sight.

Shae looked back down at the rope again too. This time,** he **was baffled.

"What!?"

Growing frustrated, he began to saw faster. The more he cut, however, the faster the rope mended itself. Merida tried to talk to him.

"Shae, stop! You could hurt yourself." She said forcefully.

Still, Shae ignored her and worked. But it was no use. The faster he cut, the faster the rope mended itself. Merida watched him anxiously.

"Shae you should just give up before you…" but before she could finish her sentence, Shae's grip slipped off the rope and he ended up cutting his hand. Merida winced in sympathy pain and Shae sucked in a sharp breath and grabbed his bleeding hand.

"…cut yourself…" she finally finished.

Shae looked up at her sharply and snapped at her,

"Oh, you donnae say!?"

Merida pulled back from him and the hard glare she was getting from him. Quickly putting up her defensive, she snapped back at him.

"Hey, donnae yell at me! I told you to be careful!"

Shae continued to glare sharply at her then turned away. He pressed heavily on his injured hand to stop to the bleeding. Merida watched him, her eyes hard and fighting back anger at his outburst. She was upset at him for snapping at her, but she still felt bad about his hand. Reaching down and lifting up a sliver of her skirt, she tore off a few strips from her underskirt. Shae hearing the fabric ripping turned around to see what the noise was. He barely caught a glimpse of the underskirt at all, considering Merida was dropping her actual skirt just as he turned. He watched as she moved to him and motioned for him to give her his hand.

"Well, come on Shae! I won't bite."

He turned his hand over to her and watched her in silence. Merida was quick and precise with the wound. She cleaned off the hand as best as she could at the moment with one strip and then tossed it aside. The next one she folded over and pressed it firmly onto the wound. The last strip she used as a wrap to hold the other in place. As she was doing all of this, Shae glanced up at her face. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and focus. It wasn't a serious wound at all, but she was treating it like a fatal blow. Without really thinking, he blurted out,

"Why are you doing this?"

Merida paused and looked up at him.

"I…I just donnae want you to start complaining that's all. Besides, it's better to take care of it now, then to wait for infection to set in…."she trailed off and tied the strip tightly around his hand.

"How did you get so good at this?" he asked admiring her handiwork.

Merida shrugged nonchalantly,

"I have three younger brothers and a father with no common sense about safety with weapons or heights. Does that answer your question?"

Shae raised a brow at her. His voice softened as he eyed her.

"Couldn't the same be said about you, though? Climbing the Hag's Tooth? Drinking from the Fire Falls?"

Merida straightened and stood up. This time, it was her demeanor that changed.

"We're not friends, Shae. Right now, we have a mutual goal to break this spell. Afterwards, you can go back to hating me and I can go back to trying to figure out why. I helped you because it's easier then to have to deal with a fever or something worse later on."

She turned and walked closer to Angus and beckoned the horse to her. She grabbed her bow and placed her quiver around her shoulder. She turned back to Shae and nodded her head in an eastern direction.

"Come on, I'm hungry and I'm sure you are too. Scotland may not let us go home until we can break this spell, but surely it won't keep us from breakfast."

At the mention of food, Shae's stomach growled its approval.

"Breakfast sounds like a great idea, _princess._"

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Harris was on a mission. He had been up since before dawn that morning preparing for his turn for the junior archery tournament. Between the training from his sister and the help he had gotten from Shae, he was fairly certain that he had a chance of at least placing in the top five. At the moment, though, he was looking for his sister. He wanted to make sure she would be at the field today during his event. Lately, she had been more than a little distracted with the games and with the other young lords, especially Shae. He couldn't understand why they didn't get along, but it wasn't his place to intervene. At least, that is what his mother had said.

"_Just let them work this out on their own, Harris. They are both adults." Elinor said softly to him as she worked on her tapestry._

"_But mum…" he started, but she turned and put up a hand to stop him._

"_No, my son." She paused, collecting her thoughts. "Sometimes adults behave like children because they feel like they must hide behind a façade. I know that you love your sister and that you have grown fond of Shae. I also know that you want them to get along for your sake, at least. But… this sounds like something that only they can truly amend on their own."_

_Harris bowed his head sadly,_

_ "I know mum…I just want them to be friends. But with the way they argue all the time, I donnae think that will ever happen."_

_Elinor smiled and embraced her youngest child._

_ "Sometimes adults argue with each other to hide other emotions too."_

_Harris looked at his mother confused,_

"_What do you mean, mum?"_

_Elinor waved it off and kissed his head,_

"_Never you mind, dear" this didn't seem to appease him, so she continued. "Just be patient and give them some time, Harris. You never know what will happen by the end of the games."_

_Hugging his mother tightly, he smiled up at her,_

_ "Alright mum."_

Harris thought back on that conversation with his mother and sighed. He had tried to leave it alone but he was also bound and determined to try and help them at least get along.

'However,' Harris thought to himself, 'Shae as a big brother wouldn't be bad either.'

Not having any luck finding Merida in her usual places, Harris made his way down to the family dining room. Upon entering, he was greeted with a roll to the face, courtesy of his brother Hamish.

"Ha ha, nice aim Hamish!" Hubert teased.

Harris glared at his two "older" brothers,

"Oh, you are _**so**_ funny." He said sarcastically as he sat down in his seat. He threw the roll back at his brother.

"Harris, please donnae throw food at the table." Elinor's voice floated across the table to the boy's direction.

"But, he started it first mum!" Harris argued, pointing to his brother.

Elinor glanced up sharply at all the boys,

"I donnae care who started it. You are **all** going to stop it. Understand?"

All the boys bowed their heads, ashamed.

"Yes mum." They all answered quietly.

Elinor nodded,

"Alright then, eat your breakfast. Donnae play with it."

Harris, not seeing Merida at the table, turned to his mother.

"Mum, have you seen Merida this morning? I wanted to be sure she was going to be at the archery fields later today."

Elinor looked up from the papers and notes her had in her hand and glanced down the table at Fergus.

"I actually haven't seen her this morning, dear. I sent Maudie up a little bit ago to wake her, but I haven't seen either one since." Looking down the table, she asked her husband,

"Have you seen her, Fergus?"

Fergus was just about to take a huge bite of hash, but stilled his hand at the question.

"No. As a matter of fact, that last time that I saw Merida was yesterday after the stone put contest."

Hamish and Hubert snickered,

"Maybe she's too embarrassed to show her face after having to give Young Lord MacGuffin a kiss…." Hubert joked.

"Would you two hush…it's not like either one of them wanted to do it." Harris snapped at his two brothers.

Fergus heard him and raised a brow at Elinor, for her to explain. Feigning ignorance, she shrugged and said nothing.

"Maybe she went out for a morning ride." Fergus offered to his youngest.

Suddenly, a loud cry echoed from the second story. Fergus dropped his utensils and the rest of the family jumped in their seats.

"Your MAGESTIES!" came the distinct cry from Maudie.

Fergus rolled his eyes,

"Oh, now what is the matter with that woman?"

Elinor hissed at him angrily,

"Fergus, please!"

Just then, Maudie came running down the stairs wailing and flailing in hysterics.

"Your Magesties! I'm so sorry!"

Now everyone looked confused,

"What's wrong Maudie?" Elinor tried to calm her. "Just calm down and explain."

Maudie sucked in a shaky breath.

"I went to the princess' bed chamber and knocked on her door. I diddnae hear anything at all, so I banged on the door louder. I listened for any type of movement, but there was still nothing. I started to worry and when I opened the door…" Maudie rambled on then paused to take another breath.

"She wasn't there!"

Fergus looked at her, annoyed.

"And this is bad because…?"

Maudie turned to her king.

"I mean, that she was never in there! She never makes her own bed and it's as fresh as it was yesterday after the other maids cleaned it. I had one of the girls ask a stable hand if Angus had been returned last night and the young man said Angus was never returned either."

Fergus became a little worried at this,

"You mean that Merida _never_ returned last night?"

Maudie nodded frantically,

"Aye, your highness. It looks that way."

Elinor's brow furrowed,

"But I thought I saw Angus in his stall last night?"

Just at that moment the big doors to the dining hall burst open. Kenneth MacGuffin hurriedly made his way into the room. Nessa, one of the young women that followed Maudie was running after him.

"M'lord, you cannae come in here at this time."

"I must see the king and queen!" he demanded.

Nessa bowed to the royal family,

"Forgive me your majesties! Lord MacGuffin was adamant about seeing you. Right now."

Fergus stood from his spot seeing the paleness on his friends face,

"Kenneth, what is the matter?"

"Shae is missing! He never came back to the castle last night!"

"What!?" Fergus yelled.

"Whoa!" Hamish and Hubert both said and looked at each other dumbstruck.

"Shae too!?" Harris asked out loud.

Kenneth paused and looked at Harris,

"Too?" he asked.

"Aye, it appears that Merida never came back yesterday either." Elinor explained.

Fergus pointed to Nessa who was standing next to Maudie, completely lost to the conversation topic. She jumped at his forceful getsure.

"You lass, go get the stable hand who worked last night and yesterday evening. We need to clear some things up."

Elinor spoke more softly but just as forcefully,

"Yes, and please come back too."

Nessa nodded and ran to get the stable hand. Shortly, she returned with the young man who was responsible for making sure all of the horses were bed down at night.

"Alright lad, could you tell us if the young Lord MacGuffin or Princess Merida returned last night?" Fergus asked him.

The young man looked around the room, nervous.

"I donnae know if they returned last night or not, Sire. All I know is that neither Angus nor Keavy were returned to their stalls last night."

Elinor looked at her husband as she spoke,

"But I thought I saw Angus in his stall last night, around midnight."

The boy shook his head again,

"No, my queen. A kinsman from another clan let his mare take that stall yesterday evening. I didnnae say anything to him because I thought it wasn't my place. I'm just a stable hand, after all. I figured the princess would set everything straight when she returned with Angus. But I checked the stalls every hour on the hour overnight and neither horse was ever there. "

Elinor looked at her husband, but he appeared lost in thought. And Lord MacGuffin was also going over the lad's statement in his head too. Elinor stood and nodded to the boy.

"Thank you, young man. If you would be so kind as to return to your duties please."

The boy bowed and hurried back out the chamber doors. After the young man leaves no one says anything. Everyone remains silent until Maudie speak aloud what all of the adults are thinking.

"You don't suppose they…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence.

Fergus looked up,

"Ran off together?" he finished the statement for her.

Suddenly, the three boys burst into laughter, which caused Nessa to jump.

"Shae and Merida!?" Hubert exclaimed.

"Ha ha, you **are** joking, right?" Hamish couldn't control his laughter.

Fergus' gaze hardened at his boys,

"This is no laughing matter, boys!"

"But Da', it's absurd! Shae and Merida cannae stand one another. They tolerate each other when they are around other people because they have too." Harris protested. " When it's just them by themselves though, it might as well be a battle of the Romans versus us."

Lord MacGuffin nodded in agreement,

"Aye. I donnae think that this was deliberately planned by either of them to go missing at the same time."

Maudie cast her doubts to the group,

"Are ye sure that their hatefulness wasn't just an act. I mean, to throw others off."

Elinor shook her head this time,

"No. I believe the boys are right. Even if they both did go missing at the same time, we have no reason to assume that they planned it. We also have no proof that they are together now."

Fergus brow was furrowed and he had become deathly silent. Then he spoke,

"We will continue on with the games and wait out the day. If neither return before sundown tomorrow, then we will alert the other clans and do a massive search for both."

"But why wait?" asked Lord MacGuffin.

"Merida does have a habit of taking off and being gone for hours on end." He paused a moment,

"Maybe the stable hand was mistaken and she did return home last night."

"It still doesn't explain Shae's disappearance, though." Kenneth added.

"Aye and the fact that the princess' bed was never slept in." Maudie interjected.

"Well, she has slept out in the stables near Angus before. She did it so she wouldn't get in trouble for being out late." Nessa added thoughtlessly. She immediately realized her mistake and covered her mouth. She fell before the royal family.

"I'm sorry your Majesties! I forgot my place!"

Elinor reached down, took her hand and gently pulled her up.

"It's alright lass. You are one of Maudie's charges, correct?"

Nessa nodded, not sure where the queen was going with her questions.

"Aye, my queen. My cousin, Kenna and I are training to become ladies-in-waiting, like Maudie."

"And you both have quite an ear for the gossip around the castle, correct?"

"Aye, I suppose."

"Then would be able to do me a favor, miss Nessa?"

"Of course, Your Highness."

"Could the both of you make sure that these rumors do not escalate? I'm sure they've already started circulating around and I would like you to do damage control. We donnae know if they are they are together or not, so it's best that the talk doesn't come to that."

Elinor took Nessa's hands in hers.

"Could you please do this for me?"

Nessa bowed her head.

"Of course your Majesty."

Elinor smiled at the young woman and let go of her hands.

"Thank you Nessa. You may go now."

Nessa formally bowed to the royal family and Lord MacGuffin and then was gone.

Maudie watched her go, eyeing her carefully. As soon as Nessa had left the hall Maudie turned to Elinor.

"Are you sure that was a good idea, your highness? Nessa's never been the one with the tight tongue, if you know what I mean."

"It's alright, Maudie. I'm actually counting on it.

Fergus was bewildered,

"Huh?"

Elinor shook her head at him,

"It doesn't matter right now, dear. You were right though. The rest of us just need to go about our normal business, until we find any evidence that this is a more serious incident."

Everyone in the room nodded, even the boys had become silent listening to the adults talk. Maudie broke the silence as she bowed to the royals.

"Yes, your majesty. If you'll excuse me, I do have other duties to attend to this morning."

Elinor acknowledged her and Maudie left the room.

"Mum, what happens if Merida and Shae donnae return?" Harris asked, worried for his sister and new friend.

"We'll cross that bridge _if_ we come to it, son." Fergus interjected to his boys. "Until then, do as your mother says."

"So should we go now, then?" Hubert asked, ready to be out of the seriousness of the room.

Elinor and Fergus both nodded to their boys.

"Aye, lads. We'll be watching you today in the competitions. Donnae let this trouble you so, a'right?" Fergus smiled.

The triplets nodded and went to leave. Harris stopped in the door and turned to Lord MacGuffin

"M'lord, I'm sure Shae is fine too. Besides da' he's the strongest man I know. Nothing could harm him."

Lord MacGuffin smiled at the lad and bowed his head slightly,

"Thank ye, young prince. I'm sure you are right."

Harris nodded and ran off after his brothers.

"I suppose I should be off now too. No sense in the rest of my clansmen getting worked up over nothing." Kenneth spoke slowly.

Fergus laid a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Shae will be a'right Kenneth. I promise I won't jump to conclusion if you don't. "

Kenneth smiled ruefully at his friend.

"I know you won't, Fergus. It's the rest of DunBroch and the clans that I worry about." With that Kenneth took off out the door.

Elinor and Fergus stood there alone, in silence. Both were contemplating the events and news of the morning and what kind of fall out could ensue because of this. Fergus walked up behind his queen and wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned into him for support.

"You donnae suppose that they really did run off together, do you love?" Fergus whispered his concern. Elinor sighed at her husband's question.

"Fergus," she paused, "Our daughter is many things, but being brash and hasty when it comes to young men, is not one of them."

Elinor gathered her thoughts and continued,

"She wouldn't allow Shae to take advantage of her, and I do believe she is strong enough to defend herself, even against him. But…even though I don't know the young lord very well, I donnae think he would try anything anyway. I believe he has too much respect for his mother and former lover to take advantage of a woman."

Fergus smiled softly,

"I wasn't thinking that, love. I was a young man once too, I know how they think and act, but there is something different about Shae MacGuffin. " He paused a moment, "I donnae know what worries me more…the fact that they may both be lost in the woods separated from each other or…."

"Or the fact that they may have run off together?" Elinor finished for him.

Fergus raised a brow,

"I thought you said not to jump to conclusions?"

Elinor nodded,

"Aye. I did. I donnae think that they did run off together, but I have a feeling that they may be together now. I know you are worried dear. So am I, but we have to trust our daughter. And trust Shae. Nothing bad or untoward is going to happen, I'm sure."

Fergus hugged his queen tightly and left the hall. When he was out of earshot Elinor muttered to herself,

"Nothing will happen...except what Merida allows to happen."

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

"Well princess, where to now?" Shae gestured to the open area surrounding them. They had been walking around for about an hour and were no closer to the river then when they started. Both parties were getting tired and extremely hungry and the horses seemed agitated as well.

Merida threw her hands up in annoyance,

"Look Shae! If you think that you can find the river faster, then by all means, please take over! Since I'm the one who grew up in these lands, I think that I would know where the river is."

"Yeah, you're doing fine job of finding it, princess." he leaned against a tree to rest. Merida glared daggers at him and began muttering under her breath. She stomped over to Angus and pulled two apples from the satchel on her saddle.

"If you're that hungry, then here!" she threw one apple at his face as hard as she could, not really thinking. Shae hadn't been paying attention to her and looked up in her direction. As he did, the apple hit him square in the face. Merida covered her mouth with her hand.

"Ouch." Was all Shae said as the apple fell to the ground. He bent down and picked up the apple and looked back over at her. Merida had turned to ignore him, but mostly to avoid him seeing her bright red face and snickering. She hadn't meant to actually hit him, but she couldn't deny it was funny. Shae watched as her body shook from laughter, but he didn't say anything to her about the throw. He did, however, mention the apple.

"You could have shared these a little sooner, don't you think?" He wiggled the apple around in his hand.

Merida looked up at him and shrugged,

"I thought that you might like some fish instead. That's why I was holding off the apples. Plus, I donnae have many and thought we should save them. You know, in case we can't find food another way?"

Shae looked at her bewildered and motioned to the forest around them.

"Uh…Am I missing something? There are a ton of fruits, nuts and berries that grow wild out here, Merida. How could we not find food?"

"Yeah, okay… unless _**you**_ are completely fine with poisonous foods and foraging for fruits and nuts then I suggest we try to at least kill a deer at some point. I donnae know about you, but I've always needed some type of meat in my diet. I'm not a goat or a sheep, thank you very much."

Silence descended upon the two unlikely companions as they ate their 'meal'. Merida stood up and dusted herself off, throwing the core on the ground. Keavy bent her head down, sniffed and nibbled on the remains of the core. Merida walked over to her and brushed her mane back with her hands. Shae watched, as Merida and Keavy seemed to share a moment between the two of them. Angus walked behind and wrapped around Shae and nipped at his kilt drape.

"What is your problem, horse?"

Angus whinnied and whipped his tail back and forth. It smacked Shae in the face and he sputtered. Merida watched the transaction between them and laughed. Shae glared at her somewhat angrily.

"What is so funny?"

She calmed herself,

"He just wants some of the apple, Shae."

Shae looked down at the core he now held in his hand and then back up at Merida.

"Why does he want mine?"  
Merida crossed her arms,

"Because Keavy ate the one I threw down. Now, he thinks you should give him yours."

Shae held out the core to Angus, who happily chomped it down. Shae reached up and brushed Angus long mane from his eyes.

"A horse as spoiled as his owner? Now I've seen everything."

Merida turned quickly to him,

"And just what is _that_ supposed to mean, MacGuffin?"

Shae turned to her, his voice dropping low and growing cold,

"Exactly what it sounds like, _princess._"

Just then a strange wind picked up and Keavy jolted up. Angus too perked his ears and listened. Shae saw them both tense and stopped. Merida, on the other hand, hadn't noticed the change.

"Well, you are nothing but an oversized troll, Shae MacGuffin!"

"Shhh.." Shae was trying to listen to the forest and her talking was distracting him.

"Donnae shush me! This is exactly what I…" Merida rambled on.

"Merida, hush!" He snapped in a harsh whisper.

"No I will not 'hush', Shae! You've been doing this to me for far too l…"

Shae crashed himself into her and pressed her against a tree. He covered her mouth with his hand and stared coldly into her eyes.

"I said, hush, woman! Donnae you even know what that means?" he whispered more harshly then before.

"We are not alone in these woods. And if _you _would be more aware of what was going on, you may notice that too."

Merida was aware of many things at that moment, but her surroundings were not at the top of her list. She was furious at him for degrading her like this, but a quick glance over at Angus told her he was right. Angus was tense and ears perked high, his eyes wide. Keavy wasn't any better off. Pawing the ground anxiously and snorting rapidly. Shae stepped back and removed his hand,

"Something is out there…"

Merida could feel it too. Almost like they were being watched. A chill went up her back and she gripped her bow closely. Shae reached for his sword and Merida knocked an arrow into place. Suddenly, Keavy whinnied and took off running through the woods. Merida glanced around for just a second to watch her go, but as she did she heard Shae yell out.

"Look out Merida!"

Merida turned just in time to see a large black wolf pounce towards her, out of the underbrush. Merida dropped her bow and fell back as Shae jumped between her and the attacking wolf. She pushed herself up from the ground and scrambled for her bow again. Angus was rearing back and stomping down hard on the ground trying to fend off three other wolves. Shae ran his blade through the large black wolf and threw it over to the side and ran to aid Angus. Merida knocked and arrow as quickly as she could and let it fly towards one of the offending wolves. She hit her intended target and watched as it fell to the ground, lifeless.

A smaller grey wolf had climbed atop a fallen tree and jumped on Angus back grabbing the horse's neck flesh in its jowls.

"Angus!" she yelled. Knocking another arrow, she took aim, but didn't loose it. She was afraid of hitting Angus in the neck and killing him too. Angus reared back and the wolf flew into the air, unable to hang on. Merida let her arrow fly and struck the wolf in the leg. It turned towards her when it landed. She knocked yet another arrow and struck the demon dog between its eyes before it could make another move. Merida spun on her heel towards Shae and Angus to see how they fared. She watched as Shae brought his sword down across the back of another wolf. The sight of fresh blood and sickening crack of bone filled her sense as she watched the massacre. That had been the last wolf and both Shae and Merida were breathing heavy trying to calm their nerves. Merida walked over to Angus and began petting him down, talking softly to him. Shae looked around at the carcasses of the dead wolves and shook his head.

A low growl emitted from the underbrush and both Merida and Shae drew their weapons. A massive white Alpha wolf emerged from the bush and growled menacingly at them.

"Merida, stay there and donnae move." Shae warned.

"But you…"

"No! Stay put, woman!"

The alpha lunged and Shae tried to block the attack with his sword but it was knocked out of his grasp by the razor claws. The claws ripped off the bandage and re-opened the wound on his hand. He hissed in pain and watched as the wolf bound past him. Angus, fearing danger reared back and caused Merida to fall back onto the ground, hitting her head on a rock. She recovered a split second later and had to roll quickly out of Angus' way before he stomped her face in with his massive hoof. Angus backed away and then took off the same direction Keavy had early.

"Angus!" Merida called after him.

Her cry got the wolf's attention and he turned his massive body towards her. She was helpless at the moment as her bow wasn't close by and it would have been impossible to hit the wolf with an arrow at this angle and distance, anyway. Merida scrambled backwards until she felt her back hit against a tree. She was trapped and there was nothing she could do to protect herself as the wolf bared down on her. It growled in her face and poised itself to pounce. Just as it left it's feet, though, it was jerked back forcefully and it let out a high-pitched yelp.

Shae's instinct took over when he saw Merida trapped and he made his way quickly over to them. He grabbed its tail and yanked as hard as he could backwards. Relying only on instinct and rage, Shae grabbed the wolf's nape with his other hand and pulled. Shae was so blinded by rage that even the sound of ripping flesh and fur was not enough to pull him from his current state. It wasn't until he held the ripped carcass in his hands that Shae began to calm down.

Merida couldn't believe her eyes. She was panting heavily, mostly from fear and adrenalin, and was eyeing the carcass of the dead wolf warily.

"You…you just ripped that animal in two…like it was paper." She tried to slow her breathing.

Shae was panting too, the rage in him evaporating, leaving him tired from the battle. He looked down at his blood soaked hands.

"My strength is the one thing my father didnnae lie about." Shae stood there in silence a moment then looked down at her.

"If your father is the 'Bear King', does this make me the 'Wolf Prince'?"

Merida's brow knit together as she looked up at him,

"Is this really the time for jokes?"

Shae shook his head and offered her a bloodied hand up,

"Probably not, but I thought it couldn't hurt."

Looking up at him, Shae's father's voice echoed in her head.

_"My son has the strength of ten men!" Lord Kenneth MacGuffin boasted._

As Shae pulled her to her feet, she thought hard on that statement. She wasn't sure if it would take ten men to rip a wolf in half, but in that moment, she realized something. Shae MacGuffin could snap her in half in the breath of a second if he truly wanted too.

"Come on lets go round up Angus and Keavy. They still have our supplies." He then took off in the horses' direction. She nodded and followed silently, eyeing the man in front of her every so often.

'What kind of man is this?' She wondered to herself. Glancing down at the magically placed twine rope around her wrist, she finished her thought,

'And what have I gotten myself into?'

**-|} -[(+)]- {|-**

Yay chapter 6 is now complete! I have to say though….I am NOT happy with it. I struggled and struggled with this chapter over and over again…and I'm still not satisfied!

You, the reader, may not think it's bad, but I do…It's stagnant, has little plot development and drags in too many places! And I still didn't end it where I wanted too…

It would have taken my 3 times as long to get all of the information into this chapter if I ended it where I planned to eventually. The morning after scene (why does that sound dirty?) was really hard to write for some reason…I struggled for days just on that portion alone! Sorry, I'm sort of done ranting now…for a while anyways.

The next chapter won't be a chapter… it will be an interlude of sorts…I have a "side quest" that I wanted to write in this chapter that I didn't have the time to fit in so it's getting its own little blurb chapter next.

Okay, is all of my cutting my self down out of the way?...Almost..

I do want to apologize to everyone who has to endure _**ANOTHER**_ wolf attack in a Brave story! I would like to point out that in my original outlines of this story, I planned the wolf attack way in advance! I just wasn't the first one to put it in a published Brave story, so I'm really not copying….I'm just slow!...Yeah…

I'm also highly caffeinated right now and I will ramble on for hours if you let me….

Onto Questions and Comments from the last chapter:

To inu-rulz: I have no problems giving you a sneak peek at the upcoming chapters, as a matter of fact I would have for this one. Except you have PM's blocked or removed from your page and sneak peeks for upcoming chapters isn't something that I want to put in my author's notes…. So…if you want, you can email me at gam3rg1rl13 at hotmail . com (without spaces) and I will send you text format of the story that I have ahead of time. Also, if you check out my gallery on deviantart, you can see how I picture their armor and dress for this story.

But just in case I can at least describe Merida and Shae's outfits.

Merida has a long underskirt that comes up high around her mid section, sort of like a skirt slip but longer and thicker. She has a longs sleeve undershirt that laces up in the front, like a Middle Age style stable hand or peasant shirt. It is loose in the arms and shoulders so she can move freely during fighting, training and riding. Her over dress is deep turquoise in color, much like the dress from the movie, except its two pieces, just like her under clothes. Her dress rides high up under her breasts and her over vest/shirt laces up on both of the sides much like a corset does in the front. Her arm pieces are buttoned together by strips of leather that hold them in place, although they are more for show then actual practical use. She also wears a medicine pouch and tartan belt low on her hips to carry essentials on her person when Angus isn't around.

Shae's outfit is pretty much the same as in the movie except I have in mind that he wears a lace up tunic under his clothes, as well that goes down to his upper thigh. He will not be embarrassed if he is forced to or is accidentally disrobed again…He learned his lesson from before. Also, his leather armor he wears under his tartan and kilt, laces up on the sides too.

Everyone will know why I designed the clothes this way in the interlude chapter* How's that for a hint inu-rulz? ;3 * and its probably NOT for the reason you are all thinking now!*

To coldblu: I'm really, really sorry about the update delay! I have no excuse other then laziness this time. I refuse to call it writers block… I had a Creative Writing professor in college tell me that "there is no such thing as writers block… You can always write, you are just too lazy to do it!" Yeah he was a real nice guy… and I went to a "Christian college".

To everyone else who reviewed and has been reading, watching, and patiently waiting (with the patience of Job, I might add) I thank you so much! I do have a lot of demands for my attention right now and it seems that this story just falls further and further onto the back burner. I hope to be able to put out a new chapter every 2 to 3 weeks but I may not be able to fit that into my other schedules, so please don't give up on me and I promise that the next installment won't suck like this one did.

Last little note:

I'm sorry for the goriness of the last half of the chapter and for Shae's potty mouth. I haven't decided yet if I should up the rating yet, but there will be blood, violence, language (not too much though), innuendo and other such ilk, but I'm trying to keep everything in a PG-13 to PG-16 rating (is that even a rating anywhere besides in Anime?). However, if too many reviewers/readers think it needs to be raised then I will. I just don't want to ostracize anyone based on rating.

And just so everyone knows, anyone can email me at that address provided above and here again (gam3rg1rl13 at hotmail . com without spaces ), just please, NO porn or ANYTHING dirty! I'm also on deviantart, just search for gam3rg1rl13, you'll find me pretty quick.

ps. Anyone else find it annoying you can't give email or website addresses in these set ups?...is it just me?!


	7. Chapter 7

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Kenna was having a really bad day! It started off with waking up before dawn to help Maudie, Nessa, and a few other women get the meals prepared for clans during the next day of competition. That wasn't anything new, though. Kenna was used to waking early to do work around Castle DunBroch, but usually she had her cousin, Nessa, to keep her company and protected. Not that Kenna was weak or frightened of much, it was just that Nessa was more…assertive, then she when it came to unwanted attention.

This morning, however, Maudie had stolen Nessa away to help her prepare the royal family's meal and awaken them. Because of that, it left Kenna all alone during the morning meal while serving the clans in the main hall. Well, she wasn't serving alone, it was just she didn't have Nessa to fall back on if something went awry. And of course, without Nessa there, something did go wrong.

Kenna was serving the clan Macintosh, when one of the warriors at the long table made a pass at her.

"Well, now! Aren't ye a bonnie wee thing! Would ye be given a man a kiss for good luck in the games today?"

Kenna smiled sweetly, but shook her head,

"I'm sorry sir, but that isn't a service that I provide."

She then turned to go about finishing her job. The clansman became angry and grabbed her arm.

"Now wait just a second, lass! The king has demanded that_ all_ of his guests _needs _are taken care of. And I'm in dire need of some attention, right now." The man's voice dropped low and quiet. Kenna's brow furrowed in worry and she looked around for help. None of the clansmen seemed to really care what he was doing to her and her own kinsman were tending to the other warriors and guests. Kenna wasn't sure how to proceed without making the man angry, or angrier.

Out of reflex, she jerked her arm back, but the man didn't loosen his grip. This only seemed to make him angrier. He sneered into her face and moved in to force a kiss on her. Out of panic, she dropped the tray she carried in the other hand and pushed on his chest,

"STOP!" she screamed.

The whole room stopped, and Kenna was sure she would be in trouble now.

"What is going on over here?" came a strong masculine voice from behind them. Much to Kenna's dismay, or relief, she wasn't sure which; the young Lord Macintosh was making his way over to them.

"I donnae know what you are doing over here, Cyrus, but I suggest you let go of this young woman's arm. NOW." Lord Macintosh warned to his kinsman.

The man, known as Cyrus dropped her arm immediately. The young lord turned to Kenna and looked down at her,

"Are you alright?" he asked concerned.

She nodded up at him as she rubbed her arm where the man had grabbed her. Duncan Macintosh looked down and saw the bruise forming on her forearm. He turned on his heel to face Cyrus.

"Cyrus, this kind of behavior isn't what is expected from my father's warriors!" He grabbed the kilt draping and loop on the man's shoulder and pulled him to his face. He spoke coldly and precise.

"You leave this young woman alone, do you understand?"

Cyrus looked between the two and smiled condescendingly at his lord and the girl.

"Of course, m'lord. I hadn't realized that you'd already claimed this whore yourself."

Kenna was distraught that he had said that. She didn't even stay to hear what else was said. She took off at that moment and shot through the castle halls, running as fast as she could, as far as she could. She didn't stop until she got to the gaming fields. She didn't even remember running outside!

Kenna found a stack of barrels behind an armory tent and she climbed to the top. All she really wanted to do was cry, but knew that if Nessa found her that way then Nessa would risk going back in and castrating that man for what he had called her. And the fact that it was the young Lord Macintosh that had helped her in the end didn't make her feel any better either. Sure he was handsome, but she assumed that he was a playboy and had more women in tow then oxen has plow. Cyrus confirmed that with his little comment. The more she thought about the scenario, the more helpless she felt and her eyes began to tear up.

"KENNA! KENNA!? Where are YOU!?" called the familiar voice of Nessa. Kenna wiped her eyes quickly. There was no sense in worrying her cousin over something so stupid.

"Over here, Nessa!" she called back.

Nessa turned round a corner,

"Kenna," looking up she spotted her, "Oh, there you are! You'll never guess what I….wait…what happened?" Nessa stopped short when she saw the fresh tears in her cousin's eyes. She raced up the barrels to sit beside her. Nessa took Kenna's hands in hers.

"Whats wrong, fair one?"

Kenna let out a little mocking laugh,

"I wish you wouldn't call me that..."

"Why not? It's what your name means right?" Nessa joked, then wrapped her arm around Kenna's shoulders. Pulling her tight to her side she whispered,

"Now, tell me what's wrong."

Kenna waved her off,

"It's nothing important…." She turned to her cousin, "Now what do you hear?"

Nessa eyed her suspiciously,

"Donnae try to change the subject! Oh, well…I can always find out from the other servants what happened later."

Again Kenna let out a blast of mocking laughter,

"Ha! Like any of them truly give a damn about me…."

Nessa raised a brow and Kenna caught her eye and smiled softly at her,

"Present company excluded. But you have to…you're family."

Nessa pulled her close again, squeezing her to her side,

"That is why _my _news can wait...Now, tell me what happened."

Kenna sighed and recanted all that had transpired for her since Maudie had whisked Nessa way earlier that morning, By the end of the story Nessa was about ready to go and kill a Macintosh warrior, but Kenna stopped her.

"Donnae even think it, Nessa!" Kenna warned, "Besides I have a feeling that the Macintosh clan will do something about it."

Nessa rolled her eyes,

"Well, I seriously doubt it! You should tell King Fergus and Queen Elinor! That would put a stop to that….maybe…"

Kenna rolled her eyes now,

"Enough about my problems." she patted Nessa's knee affectionately.

"Now, tell me this news that you so desperately want to share." Kenna smiled up at her cousin.

Nessa's eyes lit up,

"You are never going to believe this…."

As Nessa shared the news of Princess Merida and the young Lord Shae MacGuffin with Kenna, another duo was traipsing around the castle grounds looking for the young woman who had run away.

"I still donnae know why you wanted my help to look for her!" Colin Dingwall griped, as he walked lazily behind Duncan.

"You've done nothin' but bother me since the games began, and the one time _I _ask for some help you are on my case from the start! I wish you would make up your mind on how to treat people, Colin."  
Colin, who was only half paying attention anyway, shrugged.

_"_Tormenting others is slowly becoming my new favorite pastime." Colin smirked at him.

Duncan rolled his eyes at his companion and they walked on. Turning a corner, Colin could hear whispering and stopped. Duncan stopped short as well and turned to look at him,

"What are you…?" Duncan began.

"Shhh! We have mice." Colin whispered and he pointed around the corner. There, sitting on top of the barrels, was Kenna and Nessa, talking away and not paying attention.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Colin said teasingly, as they both walked around the corner, into the girl's line of sight.

Both girls jumped from their seats to attention of the young lords, but being on top of the barrels, they couldn't hold their balance well. Kenna started to fall forward but Duncan reached out and caught her by the waist. Unfortunately, Nessa was not so lucky. Her balance shifted and she fell to her right, off to the side. No one saw how, but somehow Colin moved swiftly to the side to catch her from the fall, but being only 5'11'' and not extremely strong wasn't much help. He did provide her a softer landing spot, though.

"Ooffhh!" grunted Colin as Nessa landed on top of him. Kenna jumped quickly from Duncan's hold and rushed to her cousin's side.

"Are you alright, Nessa?"

"Aye, I'm fine. Only my pride is hurt."

"Well, I think _you_ broke _my_ back!" Colin teased, still underneath her. "Although, I must say, I will endure the pain if I can keep the view." He wriggled his eyebrows up at Nessa. Her face flushed and she quickly jumped up.

"Forgive me my lord." She bowed trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks.

"Just Colin, please." He said pushing himself up.

Colin stood and dusted himself off, he grinned as he turned to Duncan.

"Now I know how you feel, Duncan, with girls falling all over you. Only mine was literal…does that mean I win?"

Nessa's embarrassed demeanor changed at the cockiness of his attitude. She crossed her arms in a huff,

"I didnnae ask you to jump to my rescue!"

"Oh, so she's a feisty one, eh" Colin egged her on.

Nessa was just about to let loose on him when Kenna piped up. She bowed to Duncan and Colin lowly.

"Forgive us, young lords. We didnnae know you were close by. We're sorry if we disrupted your training."

Colin scoffed,

"We weren't training…"

Duncan nodded and added,

"He's right. Besides, we startled you, so it's our fault if either of you hurt yourselves." He smiled at Kenna and laughed nervously. Their eyes met and they both stared at each other.

Colin watched the exchange with a lifted brow, curious as to the whole exchange. Nessa, on the other hand, didn't look amused at all by it.

Duncan Macintosh wasn't sure what was wrong with him in that moment. He was usually suave and calm around women. Well, except for the princess, but that was different. This young woman was different though, too. She had intrigued him the moment they had met and he wasn't sure why. She didn't throw herself at him like most other women did around him, but she wasn't cold to him either. Her small frame, timidity, and good-hearted nature seemed to draw him to her, like a moth to a flame. Kenna and Duncan seemed lost to the world, until Nessa pulled them from their thoughts.

"Ahem. Well…if you'll excuse us m'lords, we do have quite a bit of chores to take care of today." Nessa said sharply.

She grabbed Kenna's shoulder forcefully and spoke through her teeth,

"Don't we, cousin?"

This statement caught Colin's attention,

"You two are cousins?"

Nessa crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side,

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes, we are!"

Kenna nodded,

"Aye, it's true. Though we were brought up more like sisters. Our mothers were sisters and very close so we grew up together like sisters ourselves."

Duncan was still staring at Kenna, not really listening too much to their conversation. Kenna glance back over at him, but Nessa squeezed hard on Kenna's hand.

"Come on Kenna. We. Need. To. GO!" Nessa tried to urge.

However, Colin had other plans and stopped her,

"Wait! Donnae I get a reward for saving you from your fall?"

Nessa looked at him with an un-amused facial expression,

"It wasn't that far of a fall and I didn't ask you to! So why should I give you a reward?"

Now it was Kenna's turn to squeeze Nessa's hand a little tight,

"Nessa…." She warned.

Nessa rolled her eyes, and sighed,

"Fine. " she muttered.

She turned to Colin with annoyed look on her face,

"And just what do you suppose you should get for your 'heroic actions'?"

Colin cocked his head to the side and tapped his chin with his forefinger, as if he was thinking hard about it. Duncan shook his head. He assumed that Colin would ask for a kiss, but was surprised by Colin's actual request.

"Tell me what you were whispering about before we surprised you." Colin requested.

Puzzled, Nessa looked at him sharply,

"What? That's it?"

He smiled smugly at her,

"Aye."

She eyed him warily and looks over at Kenna, who shrugs at her.

"It's just castle gossip. You've probably heard it already, anyway."

Colin just continued to smile at her,

"Just tell me what you are talking about."

Nessa sighed, but complied.

"It's about the young lord Shae MacGuffin and the Princess Merida. Apparently, neither of them ever came back to the castle last night."

"What!?" Shouted Duncan in unbelief.

"Hmm…" Colin listened thoughtfully; his demeanor had changed again,

"And I assume that there were some pretty heavy conclusions made because of it."

Nessa nodded and continued,

"Aye, but nothing is confirmed. Queen Elinor wants us, "she points to herself and Kenna, " to make sure that the rumors donnae get out of hand. I'm afraid though, it will be past the point of no return by the time we try to stop the rumors."

Kenna looked over at Duncan,

"What do you think about it Lord Macintosh?"

"Well, I…" Duncan hesitated in his answer. Part of him was still in shock over the news. Another part of him was livid that Shae MacGuffin would even think about going off with the princess. Still, another part of him was strangely calm about the whole situation. Before he could speak again, Colin spoke up,

"I donnae think it's true." Colin stated matter-of-factly.

Nessa raised a brow up at him,

"And what makes m'lord so confident, eh?"

He shrugged at her,

"Just call it a hunch."

Kenna couldn't help herself though and she sighed lightly,

"Still, it is a romantic thought."

Nessa crossed her arms,

"That's not the reaction the royal family had."

Kenna smiled sheepishly at her cousin,

"I'm sure, but still…"

Duncan was watching the group's reactions and comments with an air of confusion. Finally, he couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer.

"What is wrong with all of you?!" he shouted.

Everyone in the circle jumped a little at his outburst.

"What is your problem?" Colin asked as he rubbed his ear to stop the ringing.

"My problem? What about you all? The princess is out there, facing who knows what kind of dangers. And possibly out with a man, whose mental stability is, at the very least, questionable…."

"Look who's talking…" Colin muttered.

Duncan ignored him and continued,

"…And you act as if it's not big deal!"

Colin put his hands up in defense,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Duncan. The princess is a big girl, plus she can handle a bow like a master. I donnae think she's in any real danger. "

Duncan cast a hard gaze at him,

"And how do _you_ know MacGuffin won't try anything?"

Colin laughed out loud at the absurdity of the thought,

"Shae MacGuffin?"

Duncan snapped back at him,

"No, the _other_ heir to the MacGuffin clan!"

Colin just continued to laugh. Nessa raised a brow at Colin's behavior,

"It seems the young princes' had the same reaction as you are."

Colin stifled his laughter and looked Duncan in the eye,

"Look, you donnae have anything to worry about. Your princess fair will return and you can continue to try to win her attention. You can also continue to fail miserably."

Kenna straightened up at Colin's statement and her expression turned to one of worry and hurt. She reached out and grabbed Nessa's hand and bowed to the young lords. Nessa was puzzled but followed her cousin's lead.

"Nessa was right m'lords. We do have many chores today, so if you'll excuse us…" she stated and then tugged on her cousin's hand. They started off together to the castle, but Colin called after them.

"Hey Nessa, if you have some free time come by the caber fields today!"

She stopped immediately and turned on her heel. She eyed him up and down, bewildered.

"**YOU**, are competing in the caber toss?"

Colin smirked at her, a coy look in his eyes,

"Heaven's NO! I just like to sit and call names at the competitors as they compete. It helps me pass the time and you wouldn't believe how a well place call can throw off a competitor."

Nessa looked at him with an un-amused look, shook her head and turned to walk away. A ghost of a smirk turned up at the corners of her mouth, but she tried not to let him see.

"If you smiled at that, then I get a kiss later!" he called again.

Duncan watched him, puzzled.

"What are you doing?"

Colin was staring at the girls as they walked away, not really paying attention to Duncan.

"Flirting." He stated matter-of-factly.

Duncan looked at him in shock.

"With a _servant_ _girl_?"

Colin shrugged and looked up at him, the girls out of sight.

"And why not? She's pretty, smart, and quick witted. Plus, I can tell she's a bit sarcastic too, all great combinations. And her other 'assets' don't hurt either."

Duncan rolled his eyes at the other young lord. Colin saw it and crossed his arms. He eyed Duncan with a smirk on his face,

" And what about you with that Kenna girl? Weren't you actually looking for her anyway? And you cannae tell me that the little staring competition you two had didn't mean anything either."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Duncan said indignantly.

"Yeah, sure, what ever you say, Lord McIntosh. Besides" he flicked his head in the direction that the two women went. "I think I blew it for you with my description of your wanton passion for the fair Princess Merida."

"Blew what?" Duncan looked at him lost to the conversation.

Colin smacked his face with his palm.

" Ugh! And you are supposed to be a ladies man? How blind are these women?"

Colin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose,

"You know what Duncan, never mind. If you are too dense to see the beautiful forest for the giant tree that is your pride, then maybe you donnae deserve either woman."

With that, Colin turned and walked off and left Duncan Macintosh to ponder his words in silence.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Okay this wasn't all that I wanted to post but I decided that I will NOT make you all wait any longer for this. If I don't post this now it won't get posted for another 3 weeks.

So that means…there is still another portion of this 'day,' in the story, that I still need to post. Don't look for it anytime real soon. I'm on vacation from work, but my best friend is flying in and I haven't seen her in a year so I am going incognito for the next week and a half while we both take vacation time.

I apologize for the wait. I know this one is shorter too so I am ashamed of myself I've always tried to at least post 10 pages worth of story for my lovely reader, but for times sake I wanted to go ahead an post it.

I hope I don't get killed by the readers for this, but it's a little bit more of an insight with the side story characters and getting to play around with Dingwall is awesome!

I know it's not much, but I hope you still enjoy!

Peace and Blessings Upon You,

PS. Monday was my 26th birthday! (I'm old :( )


	8. Chapter 8

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Silence had befallen the two traveling companions, Merida and Shae. Merida found herself eyeing Shae every so often as the two of them walked on. After the incident with the wolves Merida thought it best to hold her tongue…at least for the time being. Except for her mother's fight with Mor'du, she had never witnessed such raw power and strength displayed before. And if she was honest with herself, it actually had scared her.

Her father was a strong and mighty warrior, but Shae's strength was almost otherworldly. She looked over at him and studied his face, thinking over the wolf attack. Shae had protected her from the Alpha. If he hadn't have been there then she would have ended up wolf dinner. That thought was terrifying and she shivered unconsciously.

Shae could sense the vibrations through the rope that tied them together, but said nothing to her. He thought it best to leave her to her thoughts, and he was enjoying the silence as they walked. He was determined to find where the horses had ran off too, even if they had to trudge the whole Highlands and back. As they made their way a little further to the north, Shae thought he heard a horses' snort, and what sounded like running water.

He stopped and Merida followed suit.

"What is it?"

"I think we found the horses." He gestured past some heavy brush.

They both pushed through and found the horses grazing near the waters edge of the river.

"Looks like we found the river, too." Merida grinned sheepishly up at Shae. He looked un-amused as he walked over to Keavy.

"No thanks to you though." He muttered.

"Excuse me?" Merida snapped at him.

"You heard me, Princess."

"It's not my fault we were attacked by wolves, Shae! What is it with you, huh? You've been on my case since your clan arrived in DunBroch. I donnae want to be your friend Shae, but would it kill you to at least be civil to me?"

"Merida," he spoke slowly, "This is civil, compared to how would love to be treating you right now."

Merida unconsciously took a step back. Shae saw it and shook his head.

"Donnae worry princess, I won't treat you like I did those wolves."

He walked over to the shallow part of the river and kneeled down. Cupping his hands in the cold water, he began cleaning the dried blood from his arms.

Merida, while not bathed in blood like Shae, she was still ready to cool and clean off. As she stepped up to the water, she thought she heard Shae mutter something in the old language that she couldn't place.

"What are you muttering, Shae?" she asked.

Shea looked over at her strangely,

"I haven't said anything to you since I got down here."

"Donnae lie to me Shae! I just heard you muttering something in that old language of yours."

"That 'old language' you're referring to, is Doric."

Merida waved him off,

"Whatever it is, I just heard you muttering something. Now, what did you say?"

Shae's stare became hard,

"I told you I didnnae say anything."

Merida shot a glare back at him,

"I know what I heard, Shae!"

Shae's frustration finally got the better of him and he stood up and loomed over her,

"Listen, _princess,_ I have just about had it with…"

Shae stopped suddenly when his ears picked up the sound of voices nearby. Tilting his head to the side he listened intently,

"What is that?"

Merida stopped and listened too. When she heard the voices again she whispered up to him.

"That's what I heard just a bit ago…I thought it was you." She stared up at him. They were extremely close, but she tried to ignore that fact and focus on what the voices were saying.

"I cannae understand what they are saying."

Shae didn't say anything to her, but he did spare her a glance. He jerked his head towards a huge wall of crumbling rocks and motioned for her to be quiet. They climbed up the rocks and peered over shallow falls.

Merida noticed two men with the same blue paint that the warriors of clan Macintosh had brushed onto their skin. Maybe they were of the same clan and could get word back to DunBroch about what had happened to her and Shae. She went to wave at them, but Shae quickly and roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her down into his arms.

"What are ye doing, you crazy girl?! Are you trying to give away our location?" He 'whispered' loudly and forcefully at her.

Merida pushed herself away from him and glared up at him.

"What do you mean? I'm trying to get them to help us…"

"How do you know if it's safe? They could be brigands or raiders."

Now it was Merida's turn to give him a hard look,

"And how do _you_ know? They could help us."

Shae loosened his grip but still held her gaze,

"Let's just wait a moment and see. Let me see if I can tell what they are doing out here, first, before you go and give us away."

Merida pulled her arm from his grasp and rubbed the cuff of the rope chain,

"Fine, we'll do this _your way_, this time"

With that, the two turned back towards the men and watched.

The men began chattering something back and forth, but Merida couldn't place any of the words. She glanced at Shae. He was focused on the two men.

"So who are they?" she asked quietly.

Shae shook his head,

"I have no idea. They haven't given any names yet, but I know they are waiting for someone else to arrive."

Merida looked at him puzzled for a second or two, then remembered,

"Oh that's right. You speak Dorkus."

"Doric!" snapped back harshly.

"Whatever."

Shae sighed, unwilling to argue any further. They waited in silence a few more minutes. Suddenly, the sound of beating hooves resounded over the roaring water. When Shae and Merida saw the rider and horse approach, they both ducked down out of site to hide. Shea peeked over the rocks to see the rider. Merida watched his demeanor quickly change. He dropped back down next to her and gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Brathadairs!*" Shae spat out the word like a curse.

"Brathadairs?*" Merida repeated the word, confused.

Shae breathed out heavily. His breath quickened and it took every ounce of his self-control to not bound out and attack those men. He focused on the questioning look that he was getting from Merida.

"It means 'traitors' in Doric, Princess."

Merida's head snapped to look at him,

"Those men are traitors?"

"Aye. Did you see those markings on the one that just arrived?"

Merida nodded,

"It looks like the kind on the warriors from Clan Macintosh."

Shae glanced over at her warily,

"Sort of. Those are Pictish raiders. Clan Macintosh was the last of the clans to join the alliance your father created to fight off the invaders. Lord Lorne agreed with your father, but some of his people did not. They rebelled and formed their own clans. They are a traitorous group, the lot of them."

He slowly drew his sword, but Merida placed her hand over his,

"What are you doing?"

Shae glared at her,

"Taking care of them before they get to us."

"But we donnae know if they're dangerous or not."

His glare hardened,

"Didnnae ye hear anything I said? They. Hate. Your. Father. And all that his alliance stands for. If given the chance, they would take your life in an instant, just because you are _his_ daughter."

Merida eyed the raiders carefully,

"Please Shae, lets just round up the horses and try to get away quietly. Hasn't there been enough blood shed today? Besides, our odds are a little unbalanced here. Three trained warriors against one man and a woman with a bow? Not exactly in our favor."

Merida stared into his eyes and Shae found himself fighting against his own brain and emotions. Merida had made a valid point and it would be foolish to engage them with the two of them tied together. Shae sighed and looked down at the raiders as they set up their camp. With those men preoccupied it may be possible to sneak away without detection. The noise from the river and falls was already covering up his and Merida's conversation, so getting away shouldn't be too difficult.

He sighed again and looked back into her pleading eyes,

"You're willing to let those men live, even though they've proven to be traitors?"

Merida held his gaze, her face never faltering.

"Why should they be killed for something that they _might_ do Shae? Let's just let them be and go."

Against his better judgment, Shea agreed. He sheathed his sword.

"Alright, Princess. But donnae say I didnnae warn you." He muttered.

They both carefully, and quietly, slid back down the rocky crag. Merida grabbed Angus' reins and Shea was able to get a fist full of Keavy's mane. They walked in silence side by side, crossing the shallows of the river and moving into the woods on the other side of the river. They were trying to circle way around, giving the raiders campsite a wide berth, to try and avoid detection.

However, they didn't get very far when noise from behind them caused them both to stop and turn.

"Well, well, well…what do we have here? Two little lambs 'oo've lost their way?"

Shae reaches for his sword, but another voice jumps in quickly. A think lanky man steps out holding a taught bow with an arrow aimed at him.

"I wouldnae do that if'n I were ye, lad."

Shae stops and gives a sideways glance towards Merida. She catches his eye, but refuses to acknowledge him. She stepped forward towards the first man. Maybe she can try the diplomatic approach like her mother.

" Hello sirs. My….companion and I have been wandering the forest for a few hours." She lied. " We didnnae mean to disturb you. We're only trying to get home."

"Oh and where is home, lass?" the bowman sneered.

Before Merida could say anything, Shae jumped in,

"It's far away from here. You've probably never heard of it."

Merida raised a quizzical brow at him.

The first man frowned,

"Sounds like you're in a bad way."

"Aye we are." Merida nodded. Maybe she would be able to reason with the men after all.

"Well then, " the first man draws his sword and pointed it at Shae and Merida,

"Why donnae you two come with us to our camp." He looked past them and over towards his companion.

"I'm sure we can… help you." He turned his gaze to leer at Merida hungrily. He went to grab her arm but Shae stepped between them. The man with the bow pulled it tighter and aimed.

"I wouldnae do anything foolish, lad. You both will come with us if yow know what is good for ye."

"And bring the horses." The first man demanded.

Soon, Shae and Merida found themselves surrounded by the Pictish raiders in their camp. The man whom they had seen ride into the camp earlier stood up as the four of them approached.

Shae noticed that the there were no other men in the camp, just the three raiders, as well as, him and Merida. The two that had caught them must have been the two men in the camp earlier. Shae inwardly smiled. Things might not be so difficult after all.

"Tor, What is the meaning of this?" the older man demanded.

"We found them wandering the woods just past the river. Thought they might be spies of the Bear King, Vignar."

The one now identified as Vignar, drew his sword,

"And you fools decided to bring them to our camp?"

Tor shrank back a little, but the bowman steadied his aim on Shae and Merida, unfazed by the outburst.

"We brought their horses too." He nodded over at the large shires.

Vignar seemed to calm at seeing the horses. He began to walk over and grab Angus' mane, but Merida stepped between him and her friend.

"Donnae you touch him." She warned.

"Or what lass? You are in no position to be threatening me." Vignar grabbed her arm roughly and pushed her away. Tor stepped up behind her and put a knife to her throat,

"Maybe if we make ye watch as we gut your friend and skin your horses, then you will have a better attitude."

Merida started to struggle against the man and Shae moved to help her but Vignar turned and aimed his sword blade at him, making him stop.

"You cannae treat me like this! I am the princess of DunBroch!" Merida spat at the men.

Shae slapped his forehead with his palm when she said that.

Before Merida could understand what was happening, Shae was down on the ground, knocked unconscious. Vignar stepped up to her and sneered in her face,

"Bad move lass." A quick nod to Tor and Merida felt a heavy object hit her head. Suddenly, her world went black.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Hamish, Hubert and Harris paced their bedroom floor. Unable to enjoy any of the day's festivities, the three siblings were racking their brains trying to place where their sister and new friend could be.

"Maybe Shae kidnapped her." Hamish threw out as he paced.

Hubert looked confused at him for a moment and Harris gawked at the notion.

"Shae wouldnae do that! Besides, what reason would he want to?"

Hamish shrugged,

"Look it was just a thought, you donnae have to bite me head off, Harris."

Hubert watched his older and younger brother volley insults back a forth a few moments before he stepped in.

"Okay, hold on you two. This isn't solving anything. We still 'ave no idea where they could have gone, or…" he turned to Hamish, "If they are even together. All we know is that neither Young Lord MacGuffin, nor our sister came home last night."

Hamish scoffed,

"Oh, yeah, like that doesnnae look suspicious."

Harris sighed,

"They donnae even like each other? Why is that even an option in your mind?"

Hubert tried to play peacekeeper again,

"Now hold on Harris. Hamish may have a little bit of a point. Even if they couldnnae stand to be around each other, donnae you think it is a little odd that they always seemed to be thrown together somehow."

Harris didn't look his older brother in the eyes. His stubbornness refused to let him admit when he might be wrong. It was a family trait from their father, their mother told them frequently.

Hamish rubbed his chin thoughtfully,

"Yeah, in a weird way, it's almost like the fates are against them."

Suddenly a thought dawned on Harris and his jaw dropped.

"Or…," he paused, " **They** are against the fates."

Hubert turned to his younger brother,

"What are you on about, Harris?"

Harris looked between his two older brothers,

"Donnae you remember? When Merida tried to change her fate by changing mum into a bear?"

Hamish and Hubert shared a glance,

"Aye. " they both answered.

"But what does that have to do with their fates now?" Hubert asked.

"What if Merida did change her fate, but in turn, it changed others fates too?" Harris explained.

Hamish and Hubert both looked confused at their younger brother. Finally Hamish threw up his hands,

"That's it! I knew one day you'd loose it. Flip your noggin' and go off…" he rambled on. Hubert watched as Hamish walked away muttering to himself, then he turned and shook his head.

"Okay, Harris. Suppose I follow you so far with all of this. What does that really have to do with Shae and Merida?"

"Donnae you see? Who did Merida go to, to change her fate the first time?"

Realization dawned on Hubert and he gasped,

"The witch!"

Harris nodded,

"Aye! So maybe their fates drew them both to her."

Hamish popped back into the conversation,

"That's sounds all well and good, but it also sounds like a huge stretch too, Harris. You'll never get any of the adults to believe that!"

Harris looked hard at him,

"Why not? Mum remembers going to the witch's cottage and everyone who's here knows about the spell. It isn't that much of stretch."

Hubert looked at Harris sadly,

"Actually, I think Hamish is right again. Without hard evidence to support your theory, most of the clans will assume…well…" he trailed off.

"So you're going to just believe that our sister and Shae did run off together? I donnae believe you!" Harris shouted at his brothers.

Hamish and Hubert just stood there in silence not looking the youngest in the eye.

"Fine." Harris stated harshly.

He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a small leather satchel and stuffed it with another shirt and kilt and some bread on the stand near the table. He worked fast and in heavy silence, but his brothers walked over to him and stopped him.

"What are you doing?" Hubert asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to go to the witch's cottage. She has to know what happened to them. I just know it!" Harris huffed.  
"You cannae go out there alone! Mum will skin ye alive when you get back." Hubert exclaimed.

"Besides it's too dangerous for you by yourself. You'd be eaten by wolves!" Hamish warned.

"Or bears." Hubert finished.

"I'm going. I'm going to help our sister and the young Lord McGuffin. If you care so much, then you can come too, but I donnae expect you to. I also donnae want you to try to stop me. I have to do this. I know I'm right!" Harris argued.

The other two brothers looked at each other, both at a loss for words. They could stop him. They were stronger then him by quite a lot, but a part of them agreed with him and wanted to go too. Finally, Hamish put his hand on his little brothers shoulder.

"I'll go too. You're not as strong as me and you could get lost…."

"I will too!" Hubert popped up.

"No, you have to stay here." Harris said calmly.

"What?! Why?!" Hubert demanded.

"Because, mum and da will get really suspicious if all of us our gone. If you stay here, you can pretend to be all three of us at any given time. That way we don't arise suspicion on being gone, too." Harris answered.

His two brothers looked at him astonished,

"How in Scotland did you figure that so fast?" Hamish asked, bewildered.

Harris shrugged,

"We're triplets, makes it easy for us to cause mischief and devise cover ups."

The three looked at each other and burst out laughing.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

"Okay, that's it. Nice and easy. Whoa, whoa...slow down. You cannae rush things like this. Honestly, some people have no sense of timing."

Colin sighed as he watched the competitors for the caber toss. True to his word, he was heckling the competitors as they tossed their long poles. He wasn't one that was athletic and his father knew that, but even so, he was very un-amused at how his son chose to spend his time.

"So this is what ye 'ave been doing all day, son? Annoying the true warriors as they make our clans proud?"

Colin rolled his eyes at his father,

"Ah, yes, because a true warrior would carry a giant wooden pole into battle and toss it at his enemies. Hoping they wouldnnae be smart enough to get out of the way if it was coming at them."

Lord Murdoch Dingwall huffed,

"If it was all that was available, then, yes! Now, get down here lad, I must speak with ye."

Colin begrudgingly jumped off of the tree limb he had been sitting on and sauntered over to his father. They walked away from the festivities and out of earshot of eavesdroppers.

"Yes da'?" Colin crossed his arms and waited for his father to speak.

Lord Dingwall wrung his hands together worriedly,

"I have some distressing news, son."

For a moment Colin's attitude faltered at the look on his father's face. He was legitimately worried about something.

"What is it da'? Is something the matter with mum?" Colin asked.

Lord Dingwall shook his head, but looked sadly into his son's eyes.

"No, it's worse then anything like that."

"Well, what?!" Colin grabbed his father's shoulders.

Murdoch motioned for his son to bend down close, so he could whisper to him. Colin leaned close and Murdoch whispered.

"The princess has run off with the young lord MacGuffin!"

Colin's features sagged in disbelief. He stood straight and looked his father in the eye,

"Really?! _**That**_ is what was so important you had to tell me?" Colin looked at his father in annoyance.

"Donnae you understand son? Now you have no chance at the throne."

"I never wanted it any way! You've always wanted me to have it, but it's not what** I **want!" Colin snapped at his father. He sighed and rubbed his temples,

"Look da', I heard this rumor hours ago. And for the record, I donnae think they ran off together. I think it's a big misunderstanding and after they both get back to DunBroch they'll explain what happened. So stop worrying. Honestly…" Colin muttered afterwards.

"So you donnae think they…?"

"Uh.., no, I don't." He sighed again; "Why donnae you go back and enjoy the rest of the caber toss tournament with mum and I will find a more…productive way to spend my time then."

Murdoch eyed his son suspiciously,

"I know you, Colin. You have something turning in that noggin of yours."

Colin shrugged and grinned sheepishly,

"Who? Me da'? Never. You go on, now. I promise, no tricks from me today."

With another suspicious glance over his shoulder at his son, Lord Dingwall turned and walked back to the caber field.

Colin rolled his eyes and sighed in relief when his father walked away. He shook his head in disbelief at the absurdness of his father.

"Well, at least I've figured out why you have the attitude you do." A feminine voice declared behind him.

Colin smirked with a wolfish grin,

"Yes, well, when your father is a vertically challenged clan Lord, he tends to embellish things more then others." Colin crossed his arms and stared at the young woman in front of him. She was covered in more dirt then she had been earlier that morning, but she still had the fire behind her gave,

"And it doesn't help him, that his _**only**_ son is a boorish and shameless flirt with castle servants, I might add."

"Boorish and Shameless Flirt?" Colin put a finger to his chin and stroked his short beard. "I'm sorry lass, I think you have me confused with one of the other Lord's sons."

Now, Nessa rolled her eyes at him, but Colin didn't stop. In fact, he just moved closer to her and leaned against a tree close to her. Nessa cocked a brow at him and waited. Colin leaned close to her,

"But it seems _you _took up my invitation. So does that make me a flirt or you a tease, fair Nessa?"

Nessa faltered just a moment, but then rolled her eyes again at him,

"I think I recall you saying you were going to be at the caber toss, but when Kenna and I arrived, you were not there. _I _diddnnae care o'course, but Kenna wanted me to make sure you were all right. The poor dear, sometimes she cannae see the snakes in the grass like I can, so I have to protect her."

Colin cocked his head sideways, puzzled at her demeanor change,

"Forgive me miss Nessa, but I _was _at the caber fields until my father dragged me away. And what exactly do you mean by the 'snakes in the grass'?"

Nessa gave him a predatory smile,

"Why you and the Young Lord Macintosh, of course. Who else would I mean?"

Colin became defensive. He put a hand up to calm her rising anger,

"Now, wait a moment lass…" he started.

But Nessa pushed herself against him and dipped her head close to his. Passersby would think it was just two young lovers caught up in a moment if they happened to be seen. Colin had to admit, this woman both intrigued him and terrified him at the same time. He felt a sharp object press close to his lower midsection.

"No, my lord, _**YOU **_wait a moment!" Nessa breathed dangerously.

"I know that my cousin is falling hard for your friend and I refuse to stand by and watch her heart be broken."

"Well, if you'd just let me…" he started again, but the object pressed a little more into his stomach.

"No! I know your kind, _my Lord_! You care nothing for no one else and especially not outside of your class. "

"My kind?" Colin asked, confused.

"Nobles." She spat, "You take young servant girls to your chambers and force yourselves upon them, and leave them in the filth as soon as you can."

"Nessa…" he whispered, no cockiness or arrogance in his voice, "I can promise you that **I **am not like that at all. I would never degrade a woman in such a way…and class has never been a barrier for me. My father, sure, but…"

Nessa moved the small dagger away from his stomach and stepped back some,

"And what of your friend? Do you speak for him too?" Nessa asked.

Colin stared at her a moment, but then looked away,

"I cannot…The truth is…I donnae know if he would…do anything like that to her or not. I'd like to believe he wouldnnae, that he's more honorable then that, but I truly, donnae know."

Nessa clenched her eyes shut and place the dagger back in it hiding spot. She fell down on the ground to bow before him,

"Please donnae be angry with me, my Lord! Kenna is all the family I have left…I…I donnae wanna see her get hurt."

Colin let out his breath he didn't know he was holding in. He reached down and took her hand and pulled her up.

"I'm not angry with ye, miss Nessa. Your love of family is very admirable, and I will help you if it will help to prove I'm not like a lot of men in my 'class', as you so put it. Who knows, you may come to realize I'm not the enemy here."

Nessa looked at him puzzled,

"What do you mean, 'help', my Lord?"

Colin sighed in relief,

"Well I can either see if he is falling in love with her and would be willing to marry her," Nessa raised a skeptical brow at him at that suggestion, "Or…WE can 'unintentionally' ruin any and all potentially romantic moments the two might share over the course of the week."

Nessa rubbed the back of her head and bit her lip. Colin thought she looked extremely cute with her brow furrowed in thought. It reminded him of his mother.

"I'm not sure if we should go with either plan…"

Colin raised his arms in mock defeat,

"Well I donnae know what else to try."

Nessa looked over at him and sighed,

"I want my cousin to be happy, and I know she is already falling for the young Lord Macintosh, but what you said about the princess…." Nessa trailed off again.

Colin eyed her,

"What? About the princess not giving him the time of day? It's true. She doesnnae like him. Thinks he's too arrogant and puffed up…and many times too childish."

"But he's still stuck on her." Nessa paused,

"When the Princess does return, will he go back to swooning over her? And if he does, where's that leave poor Kenna? I just donnae wanna take that chance."

Colin rubbed his thin beard again,

"What if we got him to fall in love with Kenna before the princess returns. Besides, if the rumors are true and she and young Lord MacGuffin return, ahem, 'together', then he would have neither reason nor claim to swoon over the princess."

"That's a lot of risk to take for a big 'what if', my Lord." Nessa said and crossed her arms,

"Just call me Colin, please, and I understand your reservations, especially since it involves your cousin, but you need to trust me. She has already intrigued him and the fact that she doesnnae act like the fan girls that swarm him all the time is another point in her favor. We just need to figure out what kind of woman would actually be able to catch him fully." Colin examined.

"I figure a woman like the princess, obviously." Nessa scoffed.

"No, not necessarily. I think he's chosen to swoon over the princess, for the very reason my father wants _me_ to go after her…"

Nessa looked up at him in confusion,

"You mean,…just because she _is _the princess?"

Colin nodded,

"I assume, then you heard my father and I talking. I donnae care for the throne or crown, but whomever marries our fair Merida becomes the next King of the highlands. So naturally, our father's have pushed us to the limit to try to be presentable to the princess, although it is very apparent that she doesnnae want to chose any of us."

Nessa raised a brow at him,

"So we need to determine if Kenna is the kind of woman that Young Lord Macintosh really wants?"

Colin nodded and gave her confident smirk,

"Yep, that's all."

Nessa sat down on a rock and looked up at him in a huff,

"Easier said then done, my…"Colin shot her a warning look, "Colin."

He smiled,

"Your Colin? I kinda like, miss Nessa."

Nessa rolled her eyes,

"You cannae stay serious long can you?"

Colin gave her a genuine smile,

"I try not too. Life is too short to be boring with seriousness. Just leave Duncan to me, and you stay close to Kenna. If Duncan has to play hero too many times by coming to her rescue he might develop a complex."

Nessa sauntered up to him and crossed her arms. She had a smirk on her face too,

"You mean like the young lord that dove to save a poor servant girl who was falling off some barrels."

Colin gave a wolfish grin at her,

"I still donnae regret the view afterwards."

Nessa's smile fell and she turned on her heel and began to walk away. She couldn't stop the ghost of a smile that snuck its way onto her lips, though.

"You owe me two kisses now, miss Nessa."

Nessa stopped and turned quickly gawking at him,

"How do you figure, my Lord?" she asked intrigued and now unable to hide the smile on her face.

"I've gotten two small secret smiles out of you in one day, miss Nessa. If I can make it to 20 by the end of the week, I'm going to marry you."

Nessa looked at him incredulously,

"And just when did you decide that, you crazy man?"

Colin walked over to her leaned close to her,

"The moment you pulled your dagger on me."

In one swift motion, he kissed the tip of her nose and dashed off before she could do or say anything in retort.

"Maybe Kenna isn't the one I should be worrying about getting their heart broke…" Nessa whispered to herself. She sighed and walked back to find her cousin. This was going to be a very strange week indeed.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

When Shae came to, he found himself bound, well, doubly bound, with his hands behind his back and Merida's weight leaning against him. They were inside a lean to with a hide covering, like a small tent.

"Merida? Merida?" he tried to whisper enough to get her attention and wake her up. He realized this was to no avail, so he decided to fight with his bindings. This fidgeting caused Merida to awaken.

"Oh…" Merida moaned lightly as she began to stir.

"Shhh.." Shae whispered to her as he worked on getting out of the binds.

Merida shook her head, lightly.

"What happened Shae? Where are we?"

"Merida, hush." He snapped. He was almost free and then he could help untie her too.

At his snapping voice Merida seemed to finally wake up fully.

"You know Shae, you donnae have to be so abrasive with me."

"Yeah well, if you'd have kept your mouth shut then we wouldnnae be in this mess, princess. I told you those men hated your father and everything he stood for, but nooo, you just had to go and pull the royalty card, didn't ye? Well, now you know, not everyone cares who you are or who your father is."

Merida sighed and pulled against her binding too, trying to ignore him.

"Oh shut it Shae. I'm sorry alright, but right now we need to get out of this."

Shae struggled a bit more with his bindings and was able to break free.

"Not very good knot tying skills." Shae muttered as he moved to untie Merida.

"Och, You can give them lessons later, Shae. Untie me and lets just get out of here."

"You are very demanding today, princess." Shae stated, He finished with the rope and they moved to leave the tent like structure. Shae cautiously pulled back the flap but was greeted with a dagger near his throat when he stuck his head out.

"Alright lad, come on out slowly…both of you." Tor stated

Shae grabbed Merida's hand and tried to keep her behind him, out of an easy shot of the bowman.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to get out of that bind. We tried to get you lovebirds unbound but as you can see, " Vignar held up his hand that had a massive gash in it, "the bind that's already tied to you, isn't breaking quite so easily. So now, we face a dilemma. We can either kill you both or demand a ransom for you both."

Merida felt her blood boiling, she went to push past Shae, but he held her in place. Realizing he wouldn't budge, she called out to the man named Vignar,

"My father would never give into you, no matter what."

Shae tensed at her outburst. She was going to get them both killed if she didn't shut her mouth.

"I seriously doubt that, Princess. You are the heir to the DunBroch throne. There is no way your family would just abandon you, just like that." Vignar laughed.

Tor and the bowman began to laugh along with him. Tor dropped his guard and moment and Shae saw his opportunity. Dodging the blade, he slammed his massive body into the Pictish raider. That sent them both tumbling and scrambling for the weapon the bowman had knocked his arrow but couldn't get a clear shot at Shae. Merida took this chance to send a swipe kick at the man's feet, knocking him to the ground. She was thankful that their earlier arguing hadn't caused the rope to shrink again, but even so the distance wasn't enough to allow her a chance at getting the bow and quiver. While Shae tussled with Tor on the ground and the bowman scrambled for his weapon again, Merida turned back towards Vignar. He had already drawn his sword and took a swing at her charging figure. She was shorted, but was also able to move more quickly. Merida gave a sharp whistle and suddenly Angus was running towards her. She had to time this right or she would soon find herself missing a limb.

Shae grappled with Tor over the blade. Unfortunately, Tor was able to grab it fully before Shae could and now he faced a perilous moment. Tor gripped the blade and stabbed downward towards Shae's chest, but Shae rolled out of the way and kicked towards Tor. A loud crack was heard and Tor yelled out in pain.

Angus had galloped at full speed towards Merida and Vignar, but at the last moment he reared back pawed at the air in fury. Vignar put his arms up to protect himself and in that moment, Merida used Angus as a vault sent a kick to Vignar's head. Vignar fell down on the ground holing his head and without a weapon.

At that moment the bowman had Shae in his sights. Shae had broken Tor's hand with his kick and the bowman was unable to do anything for his friend. He took aim and loosed his arrow, but Shae was able to dodge the projectile. The bowman tried to draw another arrow, but Merida had gained her bow and quiver back and now had him in her sights.

"I wouldnae do that, if I were you." She growled.

The bowman started to drop his weapon but stopped suddenly. A familiar pain hit Merida in the head and she went flying forward. Her momentum caused Shae to stumble a bit too but not fall. Vignar stood in the place behind Merida but he wasn't standing long. Angus, in a fury of protectiveness of his master, kicked wildly. Vignar took the full brunt of a 1200-pound stallion right in the chest. The force sent him flying and into a massive tree.

Shae reached and grabbed the dagger that had fallen next to Tor. Without remorse or thought Shae plunged the dagger into Tor's chest. The raider convulsed then died, bleeding out through his wound. Merida jumped in front of Shae before he could do anything else. The bowman took off running across the river.

"SHOOT HIM MERIDA!" Shae yelled at her. She drew her bow, but couldn't let it fly. She dropped her aim.

"I cannae do it!" she cried.

Shae grabbed her bow and knocked and arrow.

"Then, I will."

He took aim and let the arrow fly. It hit the bowman in the back, straight through his lungs and he fell into the rapids below him.

Merida stood slack jawed at the sight. Shae had just murdered those two men. Angus had killed the other one to protect her, but the men Shae killed…

"How could you do that?" she asked in a hush whisper

Shae turned to her, a fire in his eyes,

"I saved us, _Princess_. I donnae know what you think this is for, " he held up her bow to her, " But it is a device used to kill other humans too. Sometimes we have to do what we must to ensure our own safety and the safety of our families! If you cannae except that responsibility then you donnae deserve to use this weapon!" Shae raged. He unceremoniously tossed the bow into the river and began to stomp away. Merida scrambled into the riverbank to reach her bow, but in her haste, she tripped and fell. Out of nowhere, Shae burst into laughter.

"You look like a drowned rat, princess."

Merida stood, holding her bow in one hand and her quiver in the other. Her hair and all of her clothes were sopping wet.

"Sure, laugh it up MacGuffin! I should shoot you with an arrow for tossing my bow in the river! Honestly, I…." Merida looked up just in time to see Vignar raise his sword above Shae's head.

"SHAE, BEHIND YOU!" Merida pointed and screamed.

Shae turned and drew his own sword from the ground, blocking Vignar's blow. Vignar kicked Shae in the knee sending him the ground, but Shae still used his sword as adefensive weapon. Merida knew Shae couldn't hold him off for long and there was only one thing she could do. Merida drew her arrow, and took aim. Time seemed to slow down for her. She took a deep breath and focused her aim on Vignar.

"Heaven forgive me." She breathed and let her arrow fly.

The arrow moved in slow motion towards its target. Even the impact was in slow motion. Vignar, upon hearing the arrow loosen turned towards the sound. That let the arrow wide open to hit it's target. Right between the old raiders eyes and through his skull. At the impact, Vignar's head jerked back and he crumpled to the ground in a heap. Shae, who had ended up on his back fighting against the raider turned his attention back towards Merida.

As soon as Vignar's body hit the ground, Merida hunched over and emptied the contents of her stomach into the river. Shae was quickly by her side, trying to help her up.

"Are you alright, Merida?"

She was white as a ghost and shaking, but Shae wasn't sure if that was from the kill or falling into the river. She didn't look at him, but she tried to talk, stuttering her way through her words.

"I…I diddnae..diddnae want too…but I…I….I had to," she shook even more, and looked up into his eyes., "…I …had to save you."

With that, Merida blacked out in Shae's arms.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Merida awoke with a start about 30 minutes later. They weren't near the river anymore and the sun was getting lower in the sky. Night would be upon them in a few hours and she was still soaking wet from falling into the river.

"Good, you're awake." Came Shae's gruff voice from beside her. Keavy and Angus grazed beside her. A campfire and spit were nearby.

Shae sat next her and offered her a tin of water,

"Here, drink this. I grabbed some provisions from the raider camp and some water and fish from the river. No apples for dinner tonight, Merida."

Merida gave him a soft smile of thanks and took the tin. She drank greedily from it. She moved to stand but Shae stopped her.

"You need to just rest Merida. Donnae try to move too much. That last shot took a lot out of you."

Merida looked at him a moment, then involuntarily shivered.

"I have to get out of my over dress Shae. I'm freezing from being soaked in the river thanks to you." She reminded him. Shae looked sheepishly for once and rubbed the back of his head. Suddenly he realized what she said,

"Wait! You mean you have to be undressed, I mean naked, in front of me?" he asked, shocked at her brazenness.

Merida stood and after a moment of wooziness, glared at him,

"No Shae I won't be naked, besides," Merida gave a whistle and both Angus and Keavy trotted up beside her, "I have two large horse walls to make sure my virtue stays intact from the like of you." Merida said as she began removing her dress top.

Shae rolled his eyes at her statement,

'Trust me, when I say that your…virtue…is well protected from me, Merida."

Merida glanced over at him from behind her massive steed.

"Uh huh, sure. I know how men think." She stated.

Shae looked over her way and noticed the skirt portion of her dress fall to the ground. His eyes widened, but shaking his head he looked away, not wanting to risk getting caught.

"And how does our fair princess know how men think?"

She motioned for Angus to lie down so she could sit.

"I hear the women in the castle talk all of the time. Warning each other and that sort of thing."

Shae leaned back against a log not far from where Merida, Angus, and Keavy were laying down. He chucked to himself.

"So how long will it take your dress to dry?"

Merida wrapped her arms around herself,

"Assuming nothing else happens? At least two hours. It's made out of a velvet-like material. It absorbs water like a sponge, but it's not as easy to wring out."

Shae hummed to himself as her listened to her. He turned towards her and noticed she was hugging her arms. Without thinking about repercussions, he grabbed a plate of fish and his cloak and walked over to her. For modesties sake he covered his eyes with his hand holding the cloak and reached down to hand her the plate of food.

Merida started when the plate was lowered into the view, but looking up and seeing Shae covering his eyes, Merida rolled her eyes at him.

"Really Shae? I told you I'm not naked." She took the plate from him.

He pulled his hand down to offer her his cloak, but he kept his eyes shut tight.

"You may not be naked, but you were the one who started spouting things like sullied virtue and all that."

Merida looked at him in disbelief,

"I said no such thing Shae!"

Shae sat on the other side of Angus and opened his eyes to look at her,

"You did so…at least you implied it. You said you wanted to leave your virtue intact. That implies that you assume that I will do something to you at seeing you in a state of undress."

Merida had already started eating, and choked a little at the last part of his statement. She felt her face heat up and could only hope Shae wasn't paying close enough attention to see it.

As Merida ate, the two sat in relative silence only breaking it to ask meaningless questions back and forth. About an hour after Merida had taken off her dress, she felt the material to test it.

"Still damp?" Shae asked watching her.

Merida sighed and nodded,

"Unfortunately." She turned towards Shae, "we might be here a little longer then you wanted to be."

For once, Shae didn't seem to mind.

"Well, after a wolf pack attack and fighting off Pictish raiders, we've had one busy day. We need to rest."

At the mention of the earlier fight, Merida became silent. After a few minutes she spoke,

"Is… is it always like that?"

"What?" Shae looked over at her confused.

"Battle? Is it always so fierce?" She asked him.

Shae leaned back and rubbed neck,

"Worse usually. In an actual battle it's sometimes hard to tell friend from foe and many good warriors are killed by their own companions. It's never glamorous, regardless of what some of the others say. True warriors donnae like to relive war memories. Most of the time, it's too painful."

Merida sighed,

"My da' does. Sometimes I think that he thinks it's a game."

Shae shook his head,

"No, that's his hunts he likes to relive, not his battles. Ask him sometime to tell you the tales of the Northern invader skirmishes. My father's only told me those stories once, and it was mostly to warn me about land rights."

"Does it ever get easier?"

Shae's look hardened for a moment contemplating her question,

"No. It's never easy to take another human's life, but you grow calloused to it over time, I guess. You realized that if you don't kill them, then they could kill you and take your land, and home, " he paused, "and your family. They could hurt all those that you love."

Merida nodded her head, but she wasn't really listening. Shae notice the change in her demeanor and decided to switch topics.

"So your brothers….What order do they go in again? I know Harris is the youngest, but the other two…I'm a little confused." Shae asked.

Merida shook her head and snapped out of her thoughts. She smiled fondly at the thought of her brothers.

"Hamish, Hubert and Harris. Oldest to youngest, in that order. Hamish and Hubert are more like da' with his fierce warrior ways, but Harris? Well, he's the thinker of the group. The two older ones pick on him because he's the youngest one, but that…" she trailed off and her brow furrowed.

"But that, what, Merida?" Shae asked.

Merida sighed and looked up at the clouds.

"But that's not the only reason why. Harris is prone to getting sick easier then almost anyone else in DunBroch. And it's all my fault."

Shae turned and looked at her strangely,

"'How is him getting sick your fault?"

"Because I'm the cause of it." Merida whispered.

When Shae didn't say anything, Merida sighed, and began.

"I had taken my brothers out one afternoon, around their 7th birthday, to the river to fish and play. I was going to show them my glen where I practice and then head over to the river. We had a grand time!" Merida recanted, smiling. Then her face fell a bit,

"That was until the wee devils decided to play a game of hide and seek...without telling me! Little did I know that I was the one who was supposed to find them...I was warned by mum to take another servant to help, but I didnnae listen." Her face fell into a frown and Shae noticed the pinprick of tears in the corners of her eyes forming.

Merida could feel her throat tighten as she remembered the next part.

"I found Harris first, but I couldnae reach him! He had climbed to a very high, very THIN branch that jetted out over the river. It wasn't in the shallows either. It was over near the rapids and other then the bear incident when I thought I'd lost my mum and had to fight Mor'du, I was terrified I'd loose someone!"

"I called to him to get down but he climbed higher and before I could do anything the branch snapped! I watched as my youngest little brother plunged into the water and all I could think to do was scream for him to resurface! That was stupid...I knew he couldn't swim, but in that moment no other thoughts were coming to my head. Finally I saw him bobble up out of the water."

"What did you do?" Shae asked her leaning over closer to her face.

She looked up into his eyes, tears threatening to fall, but she blinked them back.

"I did the only thing I could think of...I..I jumped in after him. He ended up getting stuck between two boulders in the river, which actually saved him from going into the rougher waters. When I reached him, I grabbed him up in my arms and held onto one of the rocks for dear life! I started to shore once I had Harris situated right, but as soon as my body hit the rushing water, I could barely stay above water! I didnnae want to risk us both drowning too, so I called to Hamish and Hubert to go get help. I know I should have been worried about them too, but they had come out when they heard me scream for Harris. Luckily, they didnnae have to go far. Me da' and a hunting party were close by and they had actually heard my scream."

"I've never felt so relieved as I did when my da' threw a line to me and I was able to get my brother back to shore."

"Da' grabbed him up and rushed back to the castle as fast as he could and after I gathered up the other two boys, I was right after him!"

Merida took a shaky breath,

"It was afterwards that we realized the extent of the trauma to Harris that day. He ended up catching pneumonia and almost died. He was never able to do much physically after that. Every time he exerts himself, he gets sick and now he cannae do the training with da' and his brothers" she paused and her expression became hard and angry "...all because of me and my stupid...for not being able...to take care of my own little brother." she said the last word as a whisper and looked away quickly.

Shae sat there in silence a moment and then reached out to touch Merida's shoulder. She flinched a little at his touch but turned to look at him.

"You donnae need to be ashamed of that, Merida. YOU saved your brother that day. If you hadn't of been there then he would have drowned." He tried to reason.

Merida jerked away and stood up quickly and violently. So much so, that that the shoulder sleeve of her loose undershirt fell a little to reveal her skin there. Her look was wild and dangerous and Shae was actually startled by her expression, for once. She had been fiery before, but now she looked angry and upset, and this time it wasn't directed at him. In the light of the campfire her red hair actually looked ablaze with fire and his breath caught in his throat at her expression.

"NO SHAE, Donnae you see?! It was my fault! I took my brothers out there... and alone! If I hadn't taken them out there then Harris would have never fell in the river and he would be... NORMAL! Not...sick, like he is now."

Shae stared up at her in silence as he stood above him, the air heaving in and out with her every breath. He sat there a few minutes just looking at her, waiting for her to calm down. Finally, he stood up too and dusted himself off,

"Listen Merida, he isn't sick, or weak! He just needs a different form of training then what your father is used to. I already told him I would train him, and I fully intend to, when we get back home! My brother Taryn is like Harris too. Sure, neither one may never be great war heroes, but they can still be trained and taught to fight. They just have to find their own way. Just like I did, and just like you."

With that Shae turned and doused the fire with water,

"Come on, put on your dress. It should be dry now. I think we should keep moving, in case those raiders have friends looking for them."

Merida couldn't believe what had just happened. She had poured out emotions to him, that she had kept bottled up inside, but he seemed un-phased by her outburst. Deciding it was better to follow his instructions, then to start another argument, Merida put her outer dress back on. Shae put out the campfire and grabbed the provision and put them in a pack.

Soon Merida and Shae were off again, and again on foot.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be traveling this close to night fall now Shae? We may stumble into a trap." Merida asked out loud.

Shae turned towards her,

"If we stumble into a trap, maybe we can hope it's one of your father's and he'll find us shortly afterwards." Shae mused.

"That would be well and good, except for one thing. During the Highland Games he never takes a hunting party out. We'd be stuck there until after the games were over." Merida stated.

"Then lets hope we donnae stumble into a trap." Shae said, slightly irritated. Merida decided to stay silent for a while and not say something to bother him. He had been so kind to her at the camp he had set up, but during the fights today he had been a completely different person almost. She did find it odd that for a man who said her hated her so much; he was going an awful lot to help and protect her. Merida's silent thoughts were short lived, however. The evening sky was darkening and Merida found it difficult to see where she was stepping. A tree root she didn't see tripped her. As she was falling forward Shae was turning to get her attention. Out of reflex, he stretched his arms open to catch her.

She stumbled into him and the force caused him to take a step back to steady himself. Suddenly, Merida found her face very close to his, their noses brushing slightly and she could feel his breath on her lips. She felt as though her heart would beat right out of her chest and that her face was on fire. Shae was staring into her eyes and she could feel herself being drawn in. She began to move fractions closer, closing the gap between them, but a stranger crackling noise caused them both to begin to look around for the source of the noise. Without warning, a zipping sound echoed through the forest and soon Merida and Shae found themselves tied up in a rope net. They both struggled against the net that caught them but due to how they had been caught neither one could get to a knife or dagger to cut themselves down.

At the absurdity of the situation, Merida began laughing uncontrollably. Shae raised a brow at her behavior.

"So you've finally lost your mind now, Merida?" he asked not really amused with her.

"No, I promise, but just think about it. Isn't this a perfect way to end this very messed up day?"

Shae stopped struggling and laid back and huffed. Shaking his head, he had to agree, "You're right…Well, at least this can't be any worse."

Shae quickly felt a sharp pain in his side,

"Oww! What was that for?" he asked.

Merida huffed this time,

"Oh, come on Shae, you cannae say things like that. When you say things like that, then they **DO** get worse! Like it could start raining on us just now, or more wolves could show up or…." She trailed off and gasped.

Shae rubbed his tired eyes,

"Donnae tell me…" he trailed off this time. Merida turned to him and pointed out a pair of glowing golden cat-like eyes.

"It just got worse…" she gulped.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

So after a 2 month absence, I have returned and posted a new chapter for you all….I am extremely sorry and I have no excuses. I really hope that everyone would please forgive me and accept my sincere apologies.

I have no long notes tonight, only that I want to thank each and every person who has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story, even though it hasn't been updated in 2 months.

And I have to give a very big and resounding shout out to Shahrezad1 for all the help she has been over the last 2 months! She was the one who gave the idea for Merida to get sick after killing the raider and also for STRONGLY suggesting I add a little more fluff into the story. So Thank You SO MUCH Shahrezad1! You rock! Everyone who follows or reads this story needs to go to my deviant art page and find the pieces that she did based off of the story, or you can just go to her page and check out her whole amazing gallery! It's here: shahrezad1 . deviantart . com (but without spaces)

There is still much in store for poor Merida and Shae, this was only the first day of their adventure and they still haven't found the Viking or the Angles yet….no I didn't forget about that plot bunny guys. Merida still has no clue about Shae's lover who was killed either.

…..and…. the next chapter introduces some new OC's. (please don't kill me)

I used Kenna and Nessa in the story, but I don't really consider them OC's since they are based off the two servant girls that are seen with Maudie on occasion in the movie. I have no idea if those characters had names, but I guess they are OC's since they have no names or personalities based on the little bit of screen time that they share in the film.

But I digress,

The next chapter introduces even more OC's and hopefully I don't bog the reader's down with them. Just be aware that for the purposes of my story random OC's are a necessary evil.

I'm also thinking of changing the rating to M, but I don't want to lose readers based on that. There will be more violence, language and innuendo in the chapters to come, so if anyone has objections or the like please let me know.

Ps…I really hate writing fight scenes in stories, because I see then in my mind as a stage play. Each character has a part and is doing something at the same time as another and it gets hard to follow every character and their reactions during those scenes…if anyone has any tips on fight scenes please direct me to them.

Again, thank you all for your wonderful reviews and your kindness, understanding and patience during my absence.

Peace and Blessings Upon you!


	9. Chapter 9

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All* characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

New OC's introduced in this chapter are my creation and CAN be used with permission.

Warnings: Blood and violence and character deaths mentioned. Fluffy scenes and slight innuendo's if you squint. Please note the poor and broken English in this represents a specific way that the people talk, it is NOT just poor grammar on my part. That is all.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

"Great. Another fine mess you've gotten us into, Merida." Shae muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me!?" Merida snapped at him, momentarily forgetting their current situation, "This wasn't my fault!"

"Well, it wasn't mine, either! If you hadnnae fallen into me…" Shae started.

"I tripped, Shae!" Merida jumped in.

Suddenly, the bind began to grow and tighten on their wrists again. The length shortening and the wristlets causing pain for them both.

Shae and Merida both winced in pain at the bindings.

"I suppose this," she holds up her wrist, "is my fault too?"

Before Shae could say anything to her, another voice was heard.

"Strong magic."

"Aye. Hard spell to break." A second voice was heard.

The creature with the glowing eyes stepped closer to them and held a little wisp over its hand. The wisp cast a blue tint on the creature's face, but both Merida and Shae could see that this creature wasn't human but was humanlike in mannerisms.

"Glemtick, Gelphyc, free horses." The creature commanded to the darkness. The voice and creature appeared feminine so Merida assumed it was a girl, regardless of what it was.

"No! Those are our horses! You cannae steal them!" Merida struggled against the net.

The creature turned up towards her and growled,

"Foolish girl. Animals not slaves to humans. Animals free spirits!"

Turning back towards the darkness, she snapped at someone, or something.

"Hurry loose them. Free the horses."

" Done!" Came the first voice they had heard.

"Good. Send them away."

"But, Angus is my friend, not my slave!" Merida tried to argue.

The female creature looked up at her and stared into her eyes, as if searching for some kind of fault or lie. Finally, she spoke

" If he truly friend, he go home on his own." With that the creature walked over and slapped Angus on the haunches, startling him. He took off into the forest with Keavy following close behind.

The female creature turned back towards Shae and Merida and looked back up at them curiously. She then looked off into the darkness, nodding her head.

Baffled, Shae and Merida glanced at each other. Confusion turned to surprise and pain as they quickly found themselves falling. They both crashed to the forest floor with a loud thud.

"Ohhff!" Shae grunted.

"Oh." Merida moaned.

Merida shook her head and looked up at the creature in front of her. Momentarily enraged that the girl had made her horse run away, Merida pushed herself up and grabbed the other girl's sleeve.

"How could you do that? Do you even realize who **I **am?"

As Shae rose from the ground, he shook his head at Merida's statement. She obviously hadn't learned her lesson from last time.

The female creature growled low and guttural. She grabbed Merida's wrist faster than Shae could stop either of them. The female shoved Merida into a tree.

"I know you, _princess. _But no excuse keeping animals as slaves."

"Kosha STOP!" shouted another feminine voice from the darkness.

"Ooohhh, Keira angry now." Came the first voice in a teasing tone.

"Kosha gonna get it. Yep, yep." Teased the other voice from earlier.

Another female creature stepped out of the dark forest. She too had cat-like eyes and she was carrying a short stick in one hand. She held it up and waved her other hand over the end of the stick. When she did, a burst of flame appeared and lit the end of the stick on fire, making it into a torch. The light from the torch was enough to give Shae and Merida a better look at their capturers. The one named Kosha had let go of Merida and stepped away from her.

They were all very human like in appearance, save the cat-like eyes and the elongated pointed ears. There were five altogether, at least that was all Shae could count at the moment. Three females and two males, of whatever creatures these were. The females walked more upright, like him and Merida, but noticed that the males seemed to squat down a little and move in a more animalistic nature. They all had pointed ear tips and big eyes, slit like a cat's eye, but in various shades. Elongated, sharp noses and high cheekbones were the other common features among the five.

Shae spoke up first and addressed the female that had stopped Kosha from hurting Merida.

"Who are you?"

The female regarded him curiously before she spoke,

"I am Keira.* That, " she pointed to the other tall female, " my sister, Kosha.*" Keira turned and pointed to the male standing near Merida,

"He Gelphyck and he, " she turned to her left where the other male stood, "Glemtick." Keira glanced over her shoulder and held out her hand to the smallest creature. The youngest took the elder's hand and hid from Shae and Merida behind her.

"Little one is sister Teavah*, twin to sister Tahvay. Tahvay not here, though."

Shae nodded in understanding, but that wasn't really what he wanted to know.

"That's nice, but…**what** are you?" Merida asked Shae's silent question.

Shae sucked in his breath. He wasn't sure how the creatures would take this question. Maybe they expected him and Merida to know **what** they were and would be offended by the question. The one named Kosha scoffed and the two males snickered, but the one called Keira didn't seem to mind the question. She smiled softly at Merida,

"Many names we have. Some called forest guardians, some nymphs. Some call us forest elves. We call selves, Fae."

"Fae*? As in the Faire Folk*?" Shae asked incredulously.

Keira nodded to him,

"We guardians of forest, animal and plant, alike. Brothers, sisters, are all of us. Take what is needed to live, give back nurture and care to forest."

"I always thought the Fae were…" Merida started

"A myth?" Shae finished.

"…Smaller." She shot an annoyed glance at him.

Merida walked over to Keira and reached towards her in awe,

"I've heard legends of your kind, but I'd never seen them. I almost didnnae believe you existed."

Keira smiled,

"Oh, we do. We avoid humans. Bad history."

Shae spoke up at that moment,

"Why did you…er…'free' our horses? We haddnae hurt them nor you."

"It is forbidden!" Kosha growled at them.

"It is against our laws. We had to free horses to help you. Owning animal slaves forbidden in Fae camp." Keira explained.

Merida rubbed her sore wrist where Kosha had grabbed her, absentmindedly.

"Wait! Help us?" Asked Merida, confused.

"Yep, yep. Help, help we Fae do." Glemtick answered.

"Tearlag ask of us." Gelphyck added in.

"Yep, yep! Strong magic she placed on you." Glemtick walked, or more like, bounded over to them. He knelt down and sniffed the twine rope bindings around their wrists. When he did, a golden light dust seemed to come off of the twine and waft into his nose. He snorted and sneezed.

"Yep, yep. Strong magic. Glemtick try to break, though."

"What?!" Merida and Shae gaped at him.

Without any warning, Glemtick transformed his head to that of a wolf's and took the twine in his hands. He chomped down on the twine with the strong wolf muzzle. The moment he did a bolt of magic shot out and threw the poor Fae man back against a tree. The top of his furry head was singed and lightly burning. Teavah ran to him and snuffed out the small flame atop his fur. Glemtick transformed his head back to normal and grinned sheepishly.

"Oops! Not work."

Kosha rolled her eyes,

"Course not, amadán!* Tearlag magic too strong! Can't be broken by Fae!"

"Kosha right, Glemtick. Must break curse themselves." Gelphyck added.

Shae eyed the creatures in front of him strangely,

"The Fae can break spells?"

The little Teavah, who hadn't spoke yet, looked up at him and nodded,

"Fae have magic too, Strong magic. Fae magic stop other magic…usually."

"Usually?" asked Merida cautiously.

Keira stepped in and nodded.

"Usually, yes. Curse on you too strong for Fae magic, though. Tearlag magic strongest there is. She, Keeper of Scotland. Old as land itself. Her magic cannot be broken by Fae. Princess and mate must break on own."

Merida flushed bright red and Shae was taken aback by Keira's last statement. Merida put her hands up in defense.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on! He is **not**__my mate! In any way, shape, or form."

Keira looked back and forth between the two of them confused. Kosha started snickering behind her.

"What so funny, sister?" Keira asked.

"Tearlag have good humor, yes? First two brothers not get along, now two lovers she curse."

This time Shae even looked flustered.

"WE ARE NOT LOVERS!" Both Shae and Merida shouted at Kosha.

It was too late, though, Kosha, Glemtick and Gelphyck all had burst into laughter. Only Teavah and Keira stood by, eyeing Shae and Merida curiously.

"Tearlag put curse on two people who not like each other, again. Turn out better this time, she hopes?" Kosha chortled.

Shae raised a brow at this but didn't say anything,

'Has this happened before?' he wondered.

The witch had placed the Bear spell on Merida's mother and that was the second time she had used that spell too. Maybe this was another try at a failed spell. If it were, he would kill that witch if he ever saw her again. And, if he lived through being tied to the princess.

Shae was so lost in his own contemplations, that he almost didn't notice little Teavah walking over to Merida.

Teavah grabbed the hem of Merida's dress and Merida looked down at the young Fae girl. She couldn't have been any older than her brothers, maybe even a little younger. Once Teavah had Merida's attention, she took hold of the hand that didn't have the rope twine bound to it, in one of her smaller hands. She then reached over and took Shae's free hand with her other. The three of them stood in a very small, tight circle. Teavah closed her eyes and began to chant. The language was very old and neither Shae nor Merida could place or follow it.

"Kagon nae nai, Keiv ke lai."* She chanted over and over.

Soon, her sisters and the two males were also chanting the phrase. Merida and Shae glanced at each other warily and then looked back at the girl.

Suddenly the twine around their wrists began to glow. A purple colored light emitted from the center of the rope and slowly grew out until the light had encompassed the entire twine. When the light hit Merida's wrist her whole body began to feel warm. The warmth spread through her in a calming, gentle way. She found herself closing her eyes and sinking deeper into the sensation. She momentarily wondered if the Fae child was putting her and Shae into a trance.

Without warning, the light quickly evaporated and Merida snapped too just in time to see Shea catch the little girl from collapsing to the ground. Catching her gently in his arms, Shae slowly lowered the girl to the ground and knelt beside her. By now the other Fae had circled around the three of them.

"What see, Teavah?" Kosha asked.

"Yes. What see?" Gelphyck asked too.

"Ha! You not break curse either!" Glemtick declared.

The last statement earned the Fae responsible a hard smack on the back of his head from the older sister of the small one.

"Stop bothering! Let Teavah breath." Keira reprimanded all of them.

Shae hadn't taken his hold off of her. He was afraid she would fall without his support.

"Are you alright, little one?" Shae asked calmly.

Sometimes Shae's tenderness really surprised Merida. With her, he was usually gruff and cold. Only on rare instances had he shown any care for her, or when the situation deemed it necessary. The rest of the time he had argued with and annoyed her. All during the last few days, even before the curse was put on them, too. But seeing how he acted with her brothers and now this child too, Merida was sure it couldn't be the same man. He was so gentle when it came to children and animals that, it was like another person invaded his body and mind when he interacted with them.

Teavah looked up at Shae and gave a small shy smile.

"Yes, fine. Many trial ahead for you, though. But not tonight."

Glemtick bound around happily,

"That right! Tonight, rest and revelry!"

"Revelry?" Shae looked up at Glemtick.

"Yes, Full Moon Revelry tonight! All Fae there. You come too." Gelphyck smiled happily.

Shae began to protest but Teavah put her small hand over his larger one.

"You will need the rest for rest of journey. Best take time tonight. Tearlag wants you rest. We offer place to stay."

Merida's eyes widened at that revelation. She reached over and touched Shae's shoulder. He looked up at her,

"Can I speak with you, a second." She asked him.

Shea looked up at her puzzled but stood and they walked a few feet away from the circle of Fae.

"I donnae think this is a good idea. I've heard tales about men being ensnared by Fae Circles. Whose to say this isn't a trick?" Merida confided in him.

Shae was actually impressed that she was being more cautious, but he wasn't sure what he thought about the Fae creatures themselves.

"Those who are ensnared by the Fae are never seen again. Once you enter a Fae Circle you can never leave." Merida muttered lowly.

"Not true! Lies, Princess!" Kosha growled at her. Merida glared at the Fae woman who appeared in front of her.

"Really now, then why do all the tales make you out to be savages?" Merida huffed.

"Humans scared! Scared of what they not know! Kill innocents to 'protect' selves. Fae not monsters! Human's true monsters." Kosha snapped.

Keira stepped in before Kosha and Merida could go at it.

"We invite you to home. No tricks. Tearlag ask and we agree. Simple."

"But why would Tearlag do that? She was the one who put the curse on us in the first place?" Shae shook his head confused.

"Goshen* know! Give you answers." Glemtick piped up.

"Who is Goshen?" Shae asked

Keira motioned to herself and her sisters,

"He is our father."

"…And our King." Gelphyck answered afterwards.

"Now I know we shouldnnae go." Merida muttered to herself.

"Too late!" yelled Glemtick.

The little wisp that had been hovering over Kosha's hand began to flicker. It's light grew rapidly and the blaze grew fuller. Suddenly the little flame burst out, shooting in all directions and enclosing all those around. The light became so intense that both Merida and Shae had to shield their eyes.

A wind and blue flame vortex engulfed all six of them and just as quickly as it had begun, the winds and flame stilled.

"Princess, open eyes. Safe now." Keira said gently touching Merida's shoulder.

Merida slowly opened her eyes and viewed her surroundings.

Both Shae and Merida stood speechless. Beautiful, colorful tents and wooden structures littered the surroundings. Fae of all shapes, sizes, and colors milled about, carrying various goods, wares and food to different destinations. A few of the Fae stopped and eyed Shae and Merida warily, but upon seeing the company with them nodded and scurried off.

"Come, this way!" Teavah exclaimed excitedly, pulling Shae's free hand in hers. Merida and Shae shared a glance, but followed.

"Okay Teavah, where are you taking us?" Merida asked.

"To father." All three of the Fae girls answered together.

In the next few moments they were all standing in front of an ornate tent. The covering over the frame was velvet like in material and a deep pine green color. It actually reminded Merida of her mother's favorite dress. Both of them stood in awe of the design work on the material. It was so different from the Celtic work that they were used to, yet it was so intricate that they could not deny the beauty of it.

"HA HA! I see we've picked up more travelers from the forest is that it?" Boomed a voice from inside the tent. Keira and Teavah ran up to the tent and pulled back the entry flap. A taller, more muscular and darker toned Fae walked out carrying a large bowl of apples and berries. He was obviously older, as you could see distinctive age lines on his face, but not so old as to detect a hint of silver in his hair. He was smiling ear to ear and Merida found it to be an infectious smile and was soon smiling too. The taller Fae handed the bowl to Gelphyck and walked over to eye Shae and Merida. He walked around them and at times stopped and subtly sniffed the air around them. Finally, he stopped in front of them and continued to size them up.

"You," he pointed to Merida, "are welcome in our camp, but you," he pointed to Shae, "are not."

Shea and Merida glanced at each other quickly before Merida asked,

"So you'll break our spell, so he can leave than?"

The taller Fae shook his head.

"I cannot."

"Wait! Why is **she** allowed to be her, but I cannae stay?" Shae asked.

"Simple. She has the scent of the wilds in her spirit. You, on the other hand, have the scent of a warrior and death. This is not welcome in our home. You must leave!" Goshen said in a serious manner.

"So thanks to you we both have to leave. Great job, Shae." Merida muttered.

"And just what do you mean by that, princess." Shae glared down at her.

The taller Fae put up a hand to silence them before the arguing could continue.

"Now that you both must leave, Fae just kill you, I suppose. Once humans see a Fae camp or Fae Circle, they must be sworn to secrecy or be killed. Easier for the second option."

Shae automatically went into defensive mode but Merida just stood a few moments, dumbfounded.

"But…" A few moments of stunned silence on Merida's part and heightened defense on Shae's part ended up in a loud and boisterous guffaw from the tall Fae king.

"HAHAHAHAH! I'm just kidding my young friends. Fae have not killed humans in hundreds of years."

"So you're not going to hurt us?" Merida asked, thoroughly confused.

"No princess…but, " he turned back to Shae, " I was not kidding about you not being welcome. You must prove to Fae that you are friend and not foe."

Shae raised a brow at the Fae King,

"How?" he asked cautiously.

"You must sing for us or dance with us in honor of our revelry tonight. You do that, then Fae trust you."

"How could you trust someone just based on a song or dance?" Shae asked incredulously.

"It's not the song or dance the Fae accept. It's the heart of the person offering." Goshen explained.

Merida glanced over at Shae, who seemed to be sizing up the tall Fae king.

"I think it may be wise to do what he asks Shae." She whispered to him.

Shae glanced down at her with a look in his eyes that Merida couldn't quite read. It wasn't unpleasant, to say the least, but it was foreign to her.

Shae sighed and nodded. Turning towards Goshen, he said,

"Alright, your majesty."

Goshen smiled broadly and clapped his hands loudly. A bonfire roared to life right in front of them. Merida and Shae also found themselves surrounded by a multitude of Fae.

"So, what will it be, strong warrior? Song or Dance?" Goshen asked solemnly.

As the other Fae gathered closer around, Shae found himself once again at the center of unwanted attention. He vaguely wondered how strong Fae magic was and if her was strong enough to overcome it. Maybe he could fight his way out of this.

Shae was pulled from his contemplation as he felt a light pressure on his hand. He looked down and noticed Merida had been the one to squeeze his hand. He wasn't sure if it was to get his attention or to encourage him, but it was a comforting, if albeit uncharacteristic, gesture from her.

"I think you should sing." She whispered to him quietly.

Shae raised a brow at her, but remembered that she had been in the Great Hall the other night when his father had gotten him to sing for the assembly. Shae nodded his agreement. He actually liked to dance, but like Merida knew a song was his better option.

"Is it a song then, warrior?" Goshen asked.

"Yes, a song. But it will not be a jovial one. My heart has been heavy for some time and I have not sung a joyous song in a long time."

Merida looked up at him, concerned. Her mother had said that the MacGuffin clan had suffered great loss at the hands of the Viking invaders, but Merida was under the impression that it had occurred a few months to a year or so ago. Surely he would not still be mourning his losses for so long. But as she thought about how she had almost lost her own mother and brother, she realized that she might have never gotten over the loss if it had come to that.

Goshen had paused to size up Shae's statement.

"That is fair enough. We accept your choice. Do you wish for assistance?" Goshen motioned to other Fae who held different shaped instruments in their hands and looked ready to play as well.

"Uh…That is not necessary, your majesty. I only require a lute that I may play myself." Shae answered.

Goshen nodded and had one Fae musician hand him a lute, which he passed onto Shae. He found a comfortable spot to sit down close to the fire and due to the shortened length of the twine, Merida had to sit close to him.

Last time he sang she was so entranced by it she had almost forgotten why she had been so made at him, but she was able to be further away and relatively safe. This time, even though she looked forward to hearing him sing again, she was a little worried about how she would react being so close to him.

Shae glanced over at her and noticed a look of anticipation in her eyes as he readied himself to play. Shae took a deep breath to settle himself and began to softly pluck the strings of the lute. He played a simple melody over and over a few times before jumping into the first verse.

_**The candlelight is fading as I gently kneel and say**_

_**A prayer for my mother as her spirit slips away**_

_**Away to join my father and to share eternity**_

_**We call them kindred spirits now they will forever be**_

Merida couldn't take her eyes away from him as he strummed and sang. The song was so sad, but befitting. Granted, she knew his father wasn't dead, but the beautifully, sad lyrics spoke volumes about his heart.

_**So now they're reunited, smiling down from up above**_

_**As fondly we remember the old house they filled with love**_

_**How even through the hard times they were close as close could be**_

_**Just like the kindred spirits they will forever be**_

Merida had heard the song before herself. It was an old song and she had heard it many a funeral that they held for the fallen. She'd often see her mother mouth the words along with whoever was singing the song. She would watch as her mother and father seemed to cuddle closer during the part about being kindred spirits.

_**Their love was as deep as the ocean**_

_**Flying higher than the eagles would dare**_

_**As strong as the mountains in Donegal**_

_**As soft as a morning in Claire**_

Five years ago, Merida was young and impetuous. Not that she wasn't that way anymore, but she was 20 years old now and knew it was time she thought about marriage. Even at 15 she hadn't been so opposed to the idea of marriage at all, just marriage at the time. As she thought about herself and the lovers described in the song, Merida had to wonder if **she** would ever find a love like that. A love as strong and lasting as her parents, even. Unconsciously, Merida found her gaze lingering on Shae as he continued to play and sing.

The other Fae gathering around had sat at his and Merida's feet to listen closely. Shae noticed the crowd of Fae listening intently and in awe of the song. He slowed the tempo down and all but whispered the next part of the song.

_**I can see her in the kitchen. I can smell the baking bread**_

_**I can hear my father singing as he tucked us into bed.**_

Shae picked up a little tempo and sang a little louder, but not overwhelmingly.

_**They shared the load together, they were proud as proud could be**_

_**And now those kindred spirits will share eternity.**_

After Shae sang that part he began to just play a little interlude on the lute and dropped off singing. Merida felt something pull in her heart and when he looked up she caught his gaze again. This time there was no distance to separate them and they each held the gaze. When Shae took a breath to go into the final chorus of the song, something pulled Merida to sing with him. His deeper, slightly gruff voice balanced out by her high soft one seemed to entrance the Fae audience even more.

_**They shared the load together, they were proud as proud could be**_

_**They were always kindred spirits now they will forever be.**_

Shae and Merida both began to soften and taper off the song as they sang the last bit of the chorus. What neither realized was happening, was that they both were closing the short distance between the two of them. Merida didn't even realize she had closed her eyes and was moving so close to him.

_**For now those kindred spirits will share eternity.***_

As the song finished and the last note faded, Shae was able to snap himself out of his trance and pull away from Merida right before their lips touched. Shae cleared his throat and Merida snapped her own eyes open and pulled away. Mostly embarrassed, but for some reason, also slightly hurt.

Shae looked over at Goshen asked,

"Do you trust me? Are we friends?"

Goshen smiled and bowed slightly to Shae,

"You and your kin are forever welcome in our Circle."

Shae found himself smiling up at the older Fae. Goshen spun on his heel and clapped loudly again.

"Come my friends, let us rejoice in the Full Moon Revelry! Welcome our honored guests!"

With that music, song and dancing filled the Fae Circle and Merida and Shae found themselves swept up into the revelry as well.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

"This is a really bad idea!" whispered Hamish harshly to his brother Harris.

They both had snuck out that night and were making their way towards the competition fields. If they could get past the competition fields and across the mooring bridge, then they would be able to move freely about the forest. Until then, though, they had to avoid getting caught by guards or the other clansmen.

"We could get in so much trouble for this." Hamish whined.

Harris rolled his eyes,

"Honestly! If I had known you were going to be like this, I would have brought Hubert along instead. "

Harris turned to his oldest brother,

"Come on. We donnae have much farther to go."

With that Harris turned on his heel and kept moving silently through the shadows.

What the two brothers' didn't know was that two other people were having a late night rendezvous. Only that meeting was unintentional.

Kenna had been out all day trying to help during the set up for many of the Highland events. Since her early morning run in with the young Lord's Macintosh and Dingwall and her cousin, Kenna had been trying to keep to herself most of the day. Well, she was at least trying to avoid the young Lord Macintosh. Nessa had warned her about falling for the young lord. Her cousin had warned her that he was a tease and probably had multiple women to warm his bed, but after seeing him so defeated after the stone put the second day of the games, Kenna couldn't help but feel a pull at her heart. Maybe it was just sympathy alone that drew her to him, but when he had come to her rescue in the Grand Hall, she couldn't stop her heart from gaining hope. But she now knew it wasn't meant to be. Regardless of how she felt about him, she was still just a servant and he was a clan lord heir. Oh, and he was obsessed with winning the hand of Princess Merida.

She had never really been jealous of the princess. Not once while they were growing up. That was mostly because the princess was usually always stuck inside doing lessons while Kenna and Nessa got to play outside after their chores were over with. The only thing that Kenna ever wished she could have that the princess had, was the ability to read.

Nessa had been taught some by Maudie, as she was expected to take Maudie's place some day as the Lady in Waiting for the Queen, but Kenna wasn't allowed to learn, as that wouldn't be her role. She never told anyone either so Nessa hadn't bothered to teach her what little she knew.

Now, to her embarrassment, Kenna found something else she was jealous over the princess about. This wasn't an item or ability, but rather a person. She felt ashamed of herself for thinking on such things, but in the last few days the young Lord Macintosh had filled almost her every thought.

"Oh, I wish these stupid games would just end and everyone would go back home!" Kenna sighed out loud tiredly.

"But if the games were over then I would have to wait a whole other year to see you again, m'lady." Came a voice from behind her.

Kenna spun quickly and much to her chagrin there stood the young Lord Macintosh the very man who had been overtaking her thoughts from earlier. Kenna swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Mi'lord, what are you doing out here so late?"

Duncan eyed the girl strangely,

"I could ask you the same thing, miss Kenna. Not safe for a young woman to be out here, at night, all alone."

Kenna looked at him sheepishly,

"I'm supposed to sort some of the items for the game event's tomorrow. I guess I got to thinking and lost track of the time."

Duncan looked down at her and smiled,

"That's okay. I could help you and we could get it done twice as fast."

Kenna's eyes widened at the prospect of getting to spend some alone time with the young Lord. She wouldn't get her hopes up though. It would hurt too much.

"Al..alright…"she stuttered quietly.

Duncan and Kenna worked in relative silence, but both found that it wasn't awkward or unwelcome. They were just enjoying working and being together. They finished rather quickly with the two of them.

"Well, looks like we are done now." Kenna stated as she laid out the last of the sorted items.

"See, I told you it wouldnnae take long with two of us working together. " Duncan said standing up and dusting off his kilt.

Kenna smiled up at him and nodded. He reached his hand down to offer her a helping hand up. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. The momentum caused her to fall forward a bit and lean into him. Out of instinct, he wrapped one arm around her waist. She smiled sheepishly again and looked away from his face. She could feel her face heating up and prayed to the heavens he couldn't tell in the dark.

For his part, Duncan couldn't stop looking at this young woman. She had filled his thoughts for the better part of the day and he found himself more upset that **she** hadn't come to watch him then he did when the princess didn't show up. He found himself constantly comparing her to the princess, but seeing as he had never really gotten a chance to be around either one, most of what he could compare was superficial.

"Kenna…" he whispered.

Kenna turned her eyes to look into his.

"Y…ye..yes…?" she stammered nervously.

Duncan was internally fighting with himself and on what to do. The rational part of his brain lost and he stated stupidly,

"You're standing on my foot."

Kenna looked down and upon seeing her offense, jumped out of his arms. She bowed low to him,

"I'm sorry mi'lord!" she apologized.

Secretly, Duncan was also chastising himself for messing up that opportunity.

"Kenna, please. If it's just the two of us, please call me Duncan."

Kenna stood up straight and looked at him with hopeful eyes. She smiled softly,

"Alright…Duncan."

Duncan was just about to say something else to her, but his eyes caught movement from behind her. His brow furrowed and he squinted to see in the darkness. Kenna, curious to his behavior, turned to look in the direction he was looking.

"What in the world…?" Kenna muttered to herself.

"Who, or what, is that?" Duncan asked curiously.

She turned back towards him, an annoyed expression on her face. It was a look he hadn't seen her make yet and he almost burst into laughter at her expression.

"Oh, I know _**exactly **_who both of them are." She stated to him.

She turned on her heel and stalked over to the two small moving shadows, being as silent as she could as to not give her position away.

Hamish and Harris knew that they were almost safe. Just out past the caber fields and across the bridge and they would be free.

"See, I told you we could make it." Harris whispered to his brother. Hamish rolled his eyes and started to say something but froze when they heard a feminine voice behind them.

"And just where do you think you wee devils are off to at this hour of night?" Kenna snapped at them.

Hamish and Harris both jumped up and turned around.

"Miss Kenna! What are you doing out here?" Harris asked, shocked.

Kenna had her arms crossed and a stern look on her face

"I think I just asked the two of you the same thing, Harris." She shot back.

"What's going on here?" Duncan asked as her walked up next to Kenna.

Hamish and Harris glanced in amazement at each other and then back and forth between the two. Kenna flushed when she realized what it must look like to them.

"Before either of you say anything, this isnnae what it looks like. Even if it was, I'm still an adult. You two, on the other hand are still very much children, and the princes', I might add. So before you say anything else, I still want to know what you think you are doing out here at night, all alone?"

"That sounds familiar." Duncan muttered to himself.

He did have to admit that he was very impressed at how she was handling the situation. She was stern, but not mean and the tone of her voice suggested concern more than anything else. The way she held herself showed him that she could take care of herself and others if needed be. He smiled to himself as he turned his attention back to the young princes' in front of him.

For their part, Harris and Hamish just stayed silent and looked down at the ground for a few moments. Ashamed at being reprimanded, but more so, embarrassed about getting caught. Finally, Hamish spoke up,

"It was all his idea!" he pointed accusingly at Harris.

Harris glared at his brother and pouted.

"Really?! You rat me out that quick."

Kenna sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. She uncrossed her arms and softened her tone. She knelt down to their height and placed a comforting hand on Harris shoulder.

"Look you two, I donnae care whose idea it was. I just want to know **why** you are out here? It's late. It's dangerous. You donnae have chaperones."

"Neither do you." Hamish leaned over and glared at Duncan over Kenna's shoulder.

Duncan was taken aback at the look in the child's eyes. He saw true hostility there and it shocked him a little. Kenna ignored his comment.

"It's partly my job to make sure you are safe and being out here at night, isnnea exactly safe, now is it?"

"No." They both answered quietly.

Silence befell the group again until Harris finally spoke,

"We wanted to find the witch. "

"Pardon?" Kenna asked incredulously.

"What witch?" Duncan asked aloud.

"The one that put mom and us under the bear spell. Maybe she knows what happened to Merida."

Kenna gave Harris a puzzled look,

"Why would the witch know where the princess was?"

"Yeah, this is where he lost me and Hubert too." Hamish popped off.

Harris glared at his brother again, but tried to explain to Kenna and Duncan his theory about Merida changing everyone's fate, not just her own.

Kenna listened intently to Harris and seemed to understand and even agree with him. After he was done explaining himself he paused and waited for one of the adults to say something.

"I see your point Harris." Kenna said softly.

"You do?!" came the befuddled sound of Duncan and Hamish.

"I do." Kenna nodded,

"But you shouldn't try to test a theory like that alone, and definitely not at night. You don't know what kind's of creatures roam the Scottish Highlands at night."

As the fates would have it Sir Gordon and a few of his men chose that exact moment to ride up. The sound of their steeds startled the entire small group. Sir Gordon raised his torch towards the sound of voices. He was shocked to see two of the princes and the young Lord Macintosh, as well as the young maid Kenna milling about around a competition tent.

"Mi'Lords, miss Kenna, what are you doing out here at this hour." he asked gruffly.

Kenna stepped forward,

"I'm afraid it was my fault, sir Gordon. I was afraid to be out here alone at night and I had to finish up my chores. The princes and the young Lord Macintosh agreed to accompany me, to keep me protected. I'm sorry for keeping the princes out so late." She bowed low to the warrior.

All three of the young men stood in awe of her and her ability to communicate so fluently. Sir Gordon even looked flustered.

"While I doubt, you had anything to do with why those wee devils are out here miss Kenna, I'm afraid I must ask you all to return to the castle proper." Gordon paused and bowed low his head.

"I have…some…news to share with the royal family and as one of the maids of the princes, it would be best if you and Nessa were there too." Gordon addressed Kenna.

He turned look at the young Lord Macintosh,

"All the other clan leaders should be present as well mi'lord."

With that Gordon turned his mount and headed towards the castle proper.

"What kind of news do you think Gordon has to share, miss Kenna?" Hamish asked.

Duncan watched as she reached over and squeezed Hamish's shoulder tenderly,

"I'm not sure Hamish, but by Sir Gordon's tone, I don't think it's good news."

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Shae was sitting next to the bonfire and drowning another mug of whatever the Fae kept handing to him. He was leery at first of trying any of the food or drink but after his stomach made it apparent that it needed to be filled, he ignored the rational side of his brain and gave into his stomach. This was about his fourth or maybe fifth mug of drink and he had been eating out of the fruit bowls for hours.

Merida was still seated beside him, but she was turned away from him and was talking to the Fae princesses that had helped to bring them to the Fae Circle. Shae had noticed that the twine rope between them had gotten longer during their time in the Circle.. In the first hour of being in the camp it grew almost 5 feet alone and it slowly continued to lengthen over the course of the evening. Shae still wasn't sure how the twine grew, or exactly why either. Before it had only grown when he and Merida had been asleep or working together. Now it appeared to grow a little at a time as long as they were not fighting or arguing.

He still didn't understand how or why Tearlag had put such a spell on them. He also wasn't sure if he understood the meaning of the spell to break it. Maybe one of the Fae could answer his questions.

"Come Merida! Dance with us!" Keira beckoned.

Merida laughed as she tried to wash down her food with her drink.

"I cannae do it." She lifted up her bound wrist and motioned to Shae with her free hand.

"Rope long enough now! Get up! Dance! Be merry!" Goshen encouraged.

Shae watched as Merida contemplated the request and glanced over at him. She held out her hand to him, but he declined.

"If you want to dance, please do so. But donnae ask me to join you." Shae waved her off.

Merida pouted a moment at his answer and then shrugged,

"Oh well, suit yourself MacGruff!" she called as she stood up.

He eyed the length of the twine cautiously, but was shocked to see that Goshen was right. They had enough length that they didn't have to right next to each other anymore. Shae sighed in relief for a moment.

"Now if only we could keep the stupid thing from shortening again." He muttered.

Goshen, who heard him, leaned over and laughed.

"Oh it possible, but probably not for you two right now."

Shae raised a brow at him.

"What do you mean by that, your majesty?"

Goshen waved a dismissing hand at him,

"Bah…Fae not use honors except in ceremony. Call me Goshen."

Shae chuckled at the Fae King.

"Alright…Goshen. What did you mean by your statement earlier?"

Goshen seemed to sober up at his question,

"I know which spell Tearlag put on you. It binding spell. Teaches the two connected to work together. To respect one another…" he trailed off and got quiet a moment,

"…to love one another."

Shae gave him a puzzled look,

"Love?"

Goshen nodded and, upon seeing the color drain from Shae's face, decided to correct himself a little,

"Well, many kinds of love, Warrior. Romantic not only kind of love. The only time I see Tearlag use this spell before, was on two brothers. They fight and bicker so much over everything and nothing at same time, parents get Tearlag to put spell on them. Parents just wanted brothers to get along. Tearlag wanted to teach lesson though." Goshen's voice dropped away for a few moments.

"Lesson not end the way Tearlag wanted it to though."

"What happened?" Shae asked Goshen.

Goshen sighed,

"Never could stop the twine from shrinking. Caused one brother so much pain he went insane. Killed his brother and then himself to stop the pain."

Shae's stunned face said more then any words could say.

"Tearlag said she would never use that spell again. Guess after 150 years she forgot promise." Goshen stated solemnly.

Shae put up a hand to stop him,

"Wait, are you saying that if Merida or I die, then it still doesn't break the spell?"

"No, you misunderstand. Spell broke when one brother kill the other. When spell broke the brother still alive felt so ashamed he took his own life." Goshen answered.

Shae sat back in awe of the story. Now he was really confused as to why Tearlag would place such a spell on him and Merida.

"What Tearlag actually say in spell? Maybe little different from old spell." Goshen urged.

Shae sighed. It had been about a day ago, or so now, but the rhyme and rhythm of the spell still lingered in his mind.

"The ties that bind are strong and true,

Until the spell be loosed by you.

For in your fate you find the sum,

The twine will break when two are one."

Shae rattled off the whole incantation for Goshen. He listened and then smiled a small secret smile when Shae stated the last two lines.

Goshen shook his head.

"She changed the spell. Hopefully no worries, until you figure out how to break spell."

Shae looked over at Goshen and eyed him suspiciously,

"I think you may know how we are supposed to break the spell Goshen."

Goshen took a drink from his mug to hide a sly smile.

"Might know. Can't tell you though. Against the laws."

"Laws?" Shae asked unbelieving.

"Laws of magic. All magic and spells follow laws. Without laws and rules, chaos! Bad for all creatures that way."

Shae rubbed the back of his head in frustration,

"So you cannae help us?"

Goshen looked at him indignantly,

"We are helping. Tearlag ask us to give you rest and food. We agree. Rest of journey hard going. Might even die, both of you. Need time like this to rest."

"Teavah said the same thing earlier. What do you know that we don't?"

Goshen smiled again,

"Oh many things warrior! Why do you think you put on this world? "

Shae shook his head and drank some more from his mug.

"I donnae know. I used to think I had an important purpose, but now…it doesnnae really matter to me one-way or the other. My goal is to make sure the rest of my family and my home stay's safe. I suppose that it my purpose."

Goshen's smile never left his face.

"That part of purpose yes. But not all of it!"

Goshen motioned to Merida dancing with his daughters,

"What do you think her purpose is?"

Shae rolled his eyes and sent him an annoyed look,

"To make my life as miserable as possible." Shae muttered into his mug.

Goshen looked shocked at his answer,

"After beautiful song you sang together? You don't mean that?"

Shae shook his head and tried to ignore him.

"You haven't been with her for the last three days Goshen. Nor do you know what her reckless decisions have cost me in my past."

Goshen took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. He glanced over at one of the musicians and nodded his head. Suddenly the song changed and Goshen put his mug down. He stood up next to the fire and called attention from the others.

When all eyes were on him, Goshen smiled and began to sign to the beat of the drums and song of the flute.

_**A single thread in a tapestry **_

_**Through its color brightly shine **_

_**Can never see its purpose **_

_**In the pattern of the grand design**_

Shae rolled his eyes at Goshen's attempt at teaching lessons. He decided to listen along though. Goshen had been good and fair to him so he owed him that much.__

_**And the stone that sits on the very top **_

_**Of the mountain's mighty face **_

_**Does it think it's more important **_

_**Than the stones that form the base? **_

Merida was listening intently to the song and the lyrics. She had found out from Keira and Teavah that most, if not all, of the Fae songs were lessons used to teach younger generations. As she listened to the words, she actually started to feel a little ashamed. As a princess she knew that she did have duties and obligations, but a lot of her life she had gotten to do what she wanted without little concern for others. Meeting the Fae princesses and their father was slowly starting to change that.

_**So how can you see what your life is worth **_

_**Or where your value lies? **_

_**You can never see through the eyes of man **_

_**You must look at your life **_

_**Look at your life through heaven's eyes **_

_**Lai-la-lai... **_

That must have been the chorus of the song, because when Goshen got to that part almost every Fae jumped up and began to do a dance.

_**A lake of gold in the desert sand **_

_**Is less than a cool fresh spring **_

_**And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy **_

_**Is greater than the richest king.**_

Goshen sidled up beside Shae and placed his hand on his shoulder. He motioned over to where Merida was sitting. She didn't notice the two of them looking at her because Glemtick was trying to get her to dance with him. She was laughing at his antics and finally gave in to his request. She jumped in and started dancing with him and Kosha in a small circle. __

_**If a man lose ev'rything he owns **_

_**Has he truly lost his worth? **_

_**Or is it the beginning **_

_**Of a new and brighter birth? **_

_**So how do you measure the worth of a man **_

_**In wealth or strength or size? **_

_**In how much he gained or how much he gave? **_

Goshen was still sitting next to Shae and he dropped his voice down softly to sing the next few lines.

_**The answer will come **_

_**The answer will come to him who tries **_

_**To look at his life through heaven's eyes **_

Goshen bounded off to dance with a group as he continued his song. Teavah sat down next to Shae and offered him an apple during the next portion of the song. When Shae realized that she had planned to do that to go with the song, he smiled and rubbed the top of her head affectionately.

_**And that's why we share all we have with you **_

_**Though there's little to be found **_

_**When all you've got is nothing **_

_**There's a lot to go around **_

Shae could anticipate the tempo change of the song. He had played and sung enough to know when to expect it. What he didn't expect though was to have a woman suddenly blocking his view of the dancers. Merida stood in front of him with an uncharacteristically nervous smile on her face.

Without saying a word to him she reached out her hand offered him one end of a sheer lace white scarf. He eyed her curiously.

"They wanted me to do it, Shae." She muttered over the music loud enough for him to hear.

_**No life can escape being blown about **_

_**By the winds of change and chance **_

Shae had a feeling he knew what the Fae were trying to do. The thing was, he wasn't sure if Merida knew and was going along with it, or if she was really not aware. Either way, Shae could feel the pressure on the both of them as he stared at the still offered scarf. Starting up at Merida, Shae could feel his resolve breaking and he slowly reached for the scarf.

_**And though you never know all the steps **_

_**You must learn to join the dance **_

Goshen got right behind Shae and just as he gripped the other end of the scarf, Goshen and Gelphyck forced Shae up and into the dance with Merida. Actually, they had forced him into Merida and it was a small wonder the two of them didn't tumble to the ground.

_**You must learn to join the dance **_

_**Lai-la-lai... **_

After Shae righted himself, he looked down into Merida's eyes. She was smiling sweetly at him and he was sure it had to be the large amount of drink that they both had consumed that night, but soon Shae too, found himself smiling at her.

_**So how do you judge what a man is worth **_

_**By what he builds or buys? **_

_**You can never see with your eyes on earth **_

_**Look through heaven's eyes **_

_**Look at your life **_

_**Look at your life **_

_**Look at your life through heaven's eyes* **_

Even though that song was ending Merida and Shae continued to dance the rest of the night. In those moments they forgot their differences, their worries and their trials. Goshen smiled to himself as he watched the two the rest of the night. Tearlag was right; sometimes fate needs an extra push.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Sir Gordon stood in front of the entire royal family and the honored guests, looking down at the ground solemnly.

"Alright Gordon, you've drug us all out of bed. Now explain why." King Fergus stated testily. It was early in the morning, or late at night, depending on how you would look at it, when everyone was finally able to meet.

Gordon drew a deep breath to collect himself,

"Your highness, I'm afraid I have terrible news."

Elinor's sense of awareness was heightened at this and she sat forward in her throne.

"What is it Gordon?"

Gordon motioned for one of his men to come forward. That man was carrying a large sack. He laid the sack down next to Gordo. Gordon knelt down and drew and item from the sack.

As he pulled it out, loud gasps were heard throughout the family room. Elinor stood and Fergus got up beside her. Gordon met them with a bloodied and torn bear cloak. Everyone knew whose it had to have been.

Elinor placed her hands over her mouth and shook her head,

"No, no, no,…Not my Merida…oh Merida…" Elinor reached for the cloak and upon taking it in her hands, collapsed onto the floor. Fergus grabbed her and held her as her body shook from weeping. Fergus looked up at him, tears threatening in the king's eyes.

"You're sure?" he asked Gordon, not wanting to believe it himself. Gordon swallowed the lump in his throat as he nodded.

"We found this and four or five wolf carcasses all together, in the same clearing. Not a sign of Angus or Keavy, except a few horse tracks leading to the river. It was already getting dark so we didnnae continue our search. When we found the cloak we assumed."

"Aye. I understand." Fergus couldn't take it anymore. He burst into tears himself and held his wife close.

Seeing their father and mother break down caused the boys to run to them and join them there. Kenna, Nessa and Maudie, stood off to the side, all three letting tears falls silently. The other Lord's and their families stood in shock at the news that was just revealed.

Gordon walked away from the royal family and over to Lord MacGuffin. Kenneth was fighting back tears for his friend and his family. He didn't know Gordon had news for him as well.

"Mi'lord, we also found this in the same clearing. It looks like the MacGuffin tartan."

Gordon held out a shredded piece of kilt tartan. It too was bloody and covered in wolf fur. Kenneth MacGuffin took the tartan in his hand knelt to the ground wailing in remorse.

"My son! No…please no…"

"Two senseless deaths caused by more wild beasts." Murdoch Dingwall stated solemnly. Colin and Duncan exchanged glances with each other.

Gordon backed away and moved to join the rest of his men.

"Although we do not know if the Princess and the young Lord MacGuffin were together during the whole instance or not, it appears to be clear to my men and I that both the Princess and the young Lord were surprised by a pack of wolves and though they were able to fight off and kill many of them, sheer numbers overpowered the two of them…." Gordon tapered off

"I'm sorry your majesties, and my lord."

Gordon and his men bowed I respect and took their leave.

Tawnee Macintosh and Caitlin* Dingwall left their husband's sides and went to console the Queen mother.

Lorne stood next to his son and placed a strong hand on his shoulder.

"We can call off the rest of the games, Fergus. You and your family need time to grieve. And so does Kenneth."

Fergus hugged all of his boys close one last time and kissed his wife tenderly. He stood up and shook his head.

"No. We will continue the games. It's tradition. Besides, if I know my Merida she wouldnae want us to just stop living. The games will continue, but we may not make most of the rest of the tournaments."

"We understand, Your highness. By your word, we will take our leave."

Murdoch answered.

Fergus didn't say anything. He just nodded. The other Lord's and their families excused themselves back to their rooms leaving the royal family to grieve in its own way.

Maudie excused herself from her charges and went to her own room to grieve as well. Kenna left without saying a word to Nessa, leaving her poor cousin to grieve on her own. The royal family had re-huddled together and was crying aloud. Nessa couldn't take it anymore and rushed out of the family room. When she exited the room she shut the door by falling into it. She let loose her tears and doubled over. Although Merida was the princess, she had always been a close friend to her and Kenna because of the similar ages. Now one of her best friends was gone and she hadn't even gotten to say goodbye.

"I'll never let it happen again!" Nessa wailed.

"Never let what happen again, Nessa?" came a voice beside her.

Nessa turned and saw Colin Dingwall standing there with a hurt look on his face too. He looked like he was forcing himself not to cry and not really succeeding at it.

"What won't you let happen again, Nessa?" he asked again.

Nessa tried to wipe away her tears, but they just kept falling. She tried to speak through her sobs.

"I won't let anyone else I care about die or leave me without telling them how I feel first! She was my friend and I never even thanked her for it!" she sobbed.

On an impulse, Colin walked over and wrapped his arms around Nessa. Feeling completely vulnerable for once in her life, Nessa leaned into him and sobbed into his rough spun shirt.

"I think that, that is a wonderful idea. Not to let those you care about go before telling them how you feel." Colin whispered softly.

Her sobs were subsiding slightly but her body was still shivering. For some reason, in that moment, all Colin wanted to do was protect and hold her. Merida was just becoming a new friend to him and he was hurting too, but nothing like Nessa. She had lost a good friend, and there was nothing he could do. Colin reached down under Nessa's chin and tilted her face up to his. He wiped some tears from her eyes as she fought to keep her sobs quiet now. He searched her eyes and saw the pain holding there.

"You can keep crying all you need to Nessa. There is no shame in releasing pain."

When he said that, fresh tears began to fall from her eyes. Without any warning though, Nessa reached up with one hand and caressed his cheek. Colin felt his heart speed up in that moment. His resolve broke and his rational mind stopped working. Tears began to flow from his own eyes.

"I know what I promised about your smiles, but I think this situation negates that." He whispered to her.

In a swift motion, he captured Nessa's lips with his. And they held onto each other like that until both their tears had stopped.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Alright so before I begin to apologize profusely let me first explain all my little asterisk notes

Names first : )

Glemtick, * Name inspired by a character from Wicked (book not musical)

Gelphyck * Name inspired by the word hieroglyphics

Kosha (Afghan/Arabic) - Hard Working

Keira (Gaelic) - Dark

Teavah (Hebrew) - Nature

Tahvay* Name inspired by a Japanese phrase meaning "to eat" (way different spelling though)

Goshen (Hebrew) - Approaching/drawing near

Caitlin (Gaelic) - Pure

* These names have no meaning. I came up with the names, but they were all inspired by other works and words.

Fae* (Faire Folk*) - So I'm completely re-writing how Fae are usually represented in stories. Or at least in the stories I read. I was inspired mostly but two things and one other slightly random occurance. My version of the Fae **look** like the Bosomer, Wood Elves from the Elder scrolls series. If you do not know what I'm talking about I will just say…Skyrim! In many different legends of the Fae, they are fairy creatures and are depicted as tiny creatures and sometimes they fly and sometimes not. I guess it depends on which person you talk to in a given day. In my version they are obviously human sized. Live a very long time and speak in broken English. I based the speech off of imp and goblin creatures seen in many fantasy genre books and movies. Gurgi from the Disney's Black Cauldron comes to mind if you want a reference. My last influence was actually from Harry Potter. There is a scene in one of the books and movies where Tonks transforms her nose to a ducks bill. I thought it would be a cool little addition to the characters so I wanted to make them shape shifters too.

Kagon nae nai, Keiv ke lai."* - This actually mean's nothing…well it translates into "Reveal the secrets, Share the truth." In my mind. But in real life these words mean nothing. Kagon and nai are Japanese words that translate into some strange phrases and the "keiv ke lai" was derived from the Quarian language in the Mass Effect series. "Keh' Sa-lai" which I think may translate into something like, "Go in Peace." ?

I know the Quarian characters say it when they are saying goodbye to one another in the games.

Yep, yep* - This is Glemtick's catch phrase per say, I suppose. This is an obvious shout out to one of the most beloved characters of all time Ducky from The Land Before Time. A young actress taken from the world before her time. God Bless You and Keep You Judith Barsi!

Kindred Spirits* - This song I believe is fairly modern and mentions places in Ireland and not Scotland, if I'm not mistaken. I may be though, I didn't double check but although Donegal sounds like a place in Scotland, I'm pretty sure Claire is a county or place in Ireland. I just felt it fit the mood of the story and the arrangement I was listening to is by a group called Celtic Thunder. Love them! If you've never heard any of their music you should Google them. …I know, I know that Shae's father isn't dead, but I felt that with everything else that song just fit the mood.

Through Heaven's Eyes* - This is from the Prince of Egypt sound track and if you have never heard it you should Google or Youtube it and listen. I originally wasn't going to put song in this part considering Shae had just sang a song earlier this chapter, but had always had in mind that somehow Merida gets Shae to dance with her. The flow and movement of the song even without seeing the video of it, just listening to the song gave me the mental images I needed to write it into the story.

Okay that's all the needed footnotes,

Now for other random stuff….

…

I AM SO SORRY FOR THIS DELAY! I ask for forgiveness a thousand times over from all of you patient readers, followers and commentators. (?) (those who leave comments)

I originally planned to have this up by New Years Day, oh well ….I guess a day late and a dollar short isn't too bad.

Overall, I would say I really liked this chapter, I felt I kept it up to speed and didn't really let it lag anywhere.

I would say more, but I am tired and I have to get up in 4 hours to go to work.

Again Thank you all for all of your support and I hope these 24 pages make up for the really long wait between chapters.

Peace and Blessings Upon You


	10. Chapter 10

The Ties That Bind: A Brave Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All* characters are copy write to Pixar and Disney. Only the idea and some of the first names are mine.

Warnings: Lots of Blood and violence and character deaths mentioned. Mentions of gruesome torture are also in this chapter. Fluffy parts throughout, as well. Please note that you have been warned!

PS. Although I usually don't put stuff up here I thought I'd let you know that Merida and Shae as well as all the other characters still have a LOT of Hell to go through before the ending. It may not seem like there are a lot of bright spots in this chapter, but I sincerely hope that everyone will still stick through and wait patiently. There is a silver lining on the horizon; it just may take a while to get there.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

It was late night now, and the Highland moon shone down on the darkened forest. Creatures great and small were tucked away asleep and unhindered by the sounds of leaves and sticks crunching on the ground. Those sounds, caused by a small, haggled, old woman, were the only comfort to her this evening. No guests would visit, no trinkets to make, no spells to cast. Tonight, the witch Tearlag was all alone, not even her crow companion accompanied her. The night was calm, or so it seemed.

Tearlag walked all the way to the Crone's Tooth from her house. Not a very long journey on horseback, but on foot, the journey would take half the night, roundtrip. Something was bothering her this evening. Usually she could feel every part of the Highlands and sense the peace or turmoil within. That wasn't the case this evening. Even with the bright moon and calm skies Tearlag was at unease.

As she neared the bottom of the Crone's Tooth she finally felt some sort of sensation, and it wasn't pleasant. Reaching out, she touched the base of the mountain. Using her minds eye she could feel and see shadows lurking around her. She could feel pain and anguish surrounding her body and see fire and blood spilling onto the ground.

Her eyes snapped open in terror and her breathing quickened. She gazed longingly up at the moon and tried to slow her breathing. She was old. This kind of vision was hard on her for many reasons, but mostly it disturbed her to her very core.

A small cooing sound called her attention. Turing, she saw many will-o-the-wisps gathered around her in a circle. To the many who had seen the wisps, they appeared to have no expression, just large eyes and beckoning arm-like tendrils of smoke. To Tearlag though, she could see the unease in their eyes and hear the unasked questions from their minds. She looked around at each of them and then gazed back up to the skies. Small clouds were starting to appear in patches overhead. Maybe it was an omen. The heavens, as well as the forest, were giving their warning to her.

Still gazing up at the sky she whispered aloud to the little sprites,

"Get ready. Something is coming."

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Nighttime had usually been very comforting to Elinor, as it was usually the only time she could reflect. But tonight, it brought nothing but pain and sorrow. Her daughter was gone and there was nothing she could do to get her back. Her heart ached and she wanted nothing more then to break down and cry herself to oblivion, but all she did was sit in her room, staring into the open fire.

Her three sons were gathered around her chair, gathering comfort from the closeness of their parents. The boys had literally cried themselves to sleep and she didn't have the heart, or strength to get them back to their room. Closeness is what this family needed right now and she didn't want to let them go anyway. She was holding Harris in her lap and her two older sons were lying against one another on the floor.

Fergus was leaning against the mantle holding the bloodied bear cloak in one of his hands. He thoughtfully chewed on his thumb of his other hand, lost in thought. He sighed heavily and rubbed at his tired, tear filled eyes.

Quietly and gently, Elinor laid Harris on the bed and walked over to her husband. As she touched the cloak in his hand, he whipped his head around quickly to see his loving wife. Her eyes were red and puffy from all of her fallen tears, but to him she was still beautiful.

"Eli…" he whispered softly.

"Oh Fergus…our baby girl…" she choked out.

He fully turned and dropped the cloak onto the floor. He took his wife into his arms as she sobbed into his broad chest. He stroked her long hair lovingly. She wrapped her arms around his frame and just cried even more. Fergus felt his own tears beginning to fall. Staring out the window he noticed the moon shining down on the Highland mountains in the distance. He drew in a shaky breath to calm himself,

"I promise Eli, we'll get through this." He paused, "Together."

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

The bright morning sun peeked through the dense forest trees. Sunlight speckled the ground and the creatures that occupied it. Two such occupants were a familiar Highland warrior and a Scottish princess. As the wind blew the tree branches gently, chaps of sunlight would occasionally hit Shae in the face. The sporadic bright light disturbed his slumber and eventually the light succeeded in waking him up.

Shae reached up with one hand and rubbed his face, trying to clear his sleep induced hazy sight and mind. He grunted a little and forced his eyes open. He squinted as the morning sun shone down. Shae went to move from his current position, but found he couldn't move freely. He felt a light weight on his chest and looked down. Shae was stunned to see Merida lying right next to him with her head and hand lying on his chest. Shae's slight movements disturbed her a little and she quietly moaned. Trying to block the disturbance, she burrowed her face deeper into Shae's chest.

Shae couldn't move without disturbing her and although it was more than a little awkward to wake up this way, he couldn't figure out why he hadn't just tossed her aside. Three or four days ago Shae would have just thrown her off of him and stalked off, but seeing as they were tied together, that wouldn't be happening. Merida unconsciously nuzzled into him again and Shae felt his face flush. He should have just woken her up so they could get out of this compromising position. But he didn't. He just lay there awhile longer and let her rest, watching her back rise and fall with every breath she took.

Shae thought back to the night before and the Full Moon Revelry. Goshen had finally told him that those mugs of drink that he and Merida had been drinking all evening were actually a type of wine. Shae had never heard of such a drink before but asked if it was like mead, ale, or scotch. Goshen confirmed it was and warned him to make sure Merida didn't drink too much.

Remembering the danced that he and Merida had shared the previous night, he was sure most of those were due to the wine. Even though the princess was constantly doing something to annoy him, he still couldn't deny how fun it had been to dance again. Regardless of who his partner was. The princess was very graceful too and not at all how Shae assumed she would dance. Thinking back on it, the last time he had danced before last night had been with…_**her**_.

Shae shut his eyes and sighed. He didn't need to think on those things at the moment. He had other problems to consider right now. First and foremost, being the young woman who was currently lying on his chest. At the same time he glanced down at said woman, she fidgeted in her sleep.

Merida's body lightly twitched and her head gently shook sporadically. Shae realized she was dreaming. And it didn't seem to be a happy one, if her facial expression was any indication. Seeing and sensing a deep unease from her, Shae shook her to try and wake her up.

"Merida, wake up." He said quietly, as he shook her shoulder.

Merida didn't move.

"Oh, come on." He groaned with she didn't stir any.

Shaking her again and a little rougher this time he said,

"Merida we need to get going…"

Still no response, other than some dream twitching.

Shae rolled his eyes up to the heavens. Surely, _he_ wasn't this hard to wake up, was he? Suddenly he got a cruel idea in his head, He actually had to bite back a smile, it was that bad. He leaned as close to her ear as possible and whispered to her,

"Merida, your father has agreed to wed you to Duncan Macintosh. The wedding is this afternoon."

"WHAT!?" she started awake. "No! He cannae do that!" she frantically stated. She was still heavy with sleep and unaware of where she was and who she was with. The lingering effects of her dream weren't helping either. She lifted her head and stared with half lidded sleepy eyes up at Shae.

He couldn't stop the smile that crossed his face. She looked somewhat endearing with her sleepy eyes and messy hair. Not that he would ever tell her that or admit it out loud. _**Ever**_!

As Merida's faculties returned to her as her body fully awakened she realized where she was lying and how. Embarrassed by her own actions, she sat up abruptly and pushed away from Shae. Her face flushed lightly.

Shae had to admit he was a little disappointed in the loss of extra warmth, but was glad he could move now. Nature called him and he didn't want to do **that** in front of Merida. He stood up and started to walk off. Merida looked after him, confused.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

Shae sighed,

"To relieve myself, if you must know. A lot of drink in my system, if you know what I mean. And I'd rather not do **it** in front of you."

Merida flushed and looked away,

"R…right…I completely understand."

Shae nodded and found a hidden spot nearby to care of business. Merida tried to busy her thoughts with something other than what Shae was doing. She just forced herself to ignore it and looked at their surroundings. They weren't in the Fae Circle anymore. Glancing down at her wrist she realized that the spell must have moved them again. That, or the Fae just left them in the middle of the forest at night.

Merida highly doubted that the Fae just abandoned them. If anything, it would look like Shae and her disappeared over night. Merida flushed at that thought too. She was surely going to have a lot to answer to when they got back to DunBroch. Merida wasn't stupid. With as much as she and Shae were thrown together before they were cursed, she was sure everyone would assume that they had run off together.

'How much further from the truth could that be!' Merida thought to herself.

As she sat in contemplation her own body decided it needed to be relieved too. She rolled her eyes at herself,

"Really?!" she asked aloud rhetorically.

Glancing off in the direction that Shae went Merida stood and went to find a spot herself. She was thankful that the rope had almost tripled in length over the course of the night, but she was mad at her own body. This whole situation was embarrassing enough, did their bodies have to make it worse.

"Merida, where are you?" Shae called walking back to where they had woken up.

Merida felt her face heat up. This was even more embarrassing then having to take off her dress to let it dry. She called to him,

"I'm here, Shae. Just wait there, please! I'll be just a minute."

"What's the matter?" he called back.

Merida groaned in frustration,

"The same thing that was **wrong** with you just a moment ago."

Realization dawned on Shae and he gaped at the place where her voice was coming from.

"Oh."

Merida shook her head,

"This is so embarrassing." She muttered to herself.

Shae was looking away from the place where she had been when she walked back out into the open again.

"Ahem." She cleared her throat to get his attention.

He turned to look at her and for a brief moment Merida was sure she saw a blush on his face.

"So…everything come out alright?" he asked her.

Merida looked at him un-amused and rolled her eyes.

"Really? Now you make jokes? And bad ones at that."

Shae feigned an innocent expression.

"Maybe I still have to much of that drink in my body."

"Huh?" Merida glanced at him confused.

"You know. The stuff we were drinking last night. Not as strong as scotch or whiskey, but enough to have a lingering effect."

"Wait! You mean that stuff we had last night had alcohol in it?" Merida asked in shock.

Shae looked at her lost expression and almost laughed out loud.

"What? Donnae tell me you've never partook of the spirits before?"

Her face paled a little and Shae's mirth grew and he couldn't stop himself. Shae let out a loud guffaw. Merida blushed at his reaction and started to feel herself getting angry.

"It's not funny Shae!"

"Actually, I find it quite hilarious princess." Shae tried to suppress his laughter.

"My mum would kill me if she found out!"

Shae's laughter subsided and he stared at Merida.

"I doubt the amount of drink you had last night will kill you, Merida. And as for your mum, she may never find out anyway."

"You want me to lie to my mum?" Merida asked shocked.

"Actually, I was referring to this" he held up his wrist that had the bind wrapped around it.

"Oh." Merida muttered.

"Not to mention the fact that _if_ we donnae break this spell on us then we will never be able to go home."  
He paused a moment before continuing.

"Besides, it's not like you've **never** lied to your mum before, right? And do you really want to tell her **everything** that's happened so far during our little 'adventure', Princess?"

Merida pursed her lips as she glanced up at him. After a moment of silence she nodded,

"Good point."

The both of them stood there a few minutes not saying anything after that. They were looking around in all directions trying to decipher which direction was which.

Finally Shae spoke,

"So…where are we?"

Merida shrugged,

I donnae know."

"What do you mean you donnae know? You were the one who said you'd traveled all over the highlands?" Shae gaped at her.

"Uh, no. I believe what I said was that I had traveled at least a days journey from and around DunBroch. I have no idea how far away we are right now. You cannae blame me for that." Merida countered.

Shae sighed and rolled his eyes,

"Well that's just great now isn't it? We're who knows where, lost in some forest in the highlands and not the slightest idea of where to go or what direction is which. We donnae even have our mounts anymore."

Merida opened her mouth to say something but just as she did a soft cooing sound was made behind her. Merida winced and peaked to look up Shae. He was looking behind her with a confused and awestruck look on his face.

"Let me guess…a wisp is floating right behind me?"

Shae slowly nodded not taking his eyes off the forest spirit. Merida threw up her hands in frustration.

"Och. Every time one of these…_things_ show up something bad happens."

Shae watched it hover in one open area of the trees.

"I think it wants us to follow."

"Oh, no! Not this time! Those things are devils and cause trouble. Mark my words, Shae MacGuffin. No good can come from following that...that…sprite." Merida huffed.

Shae sent an exasperated look her way.

"Look Merida, what choice do we have? Neither of us have any idea of where we are. Maybe, just maybe, your hesitations against the Wisps are misjudged. After all, when your mum was turned to a bear that worked out okay, didnnae it?"

"She was still turned into a bear, Shae!" Merida argued.

"But that was your fault, not the wisps." Shae countered.

Merida pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed,

"Fine, but when we end up face to face with a fire breathing dragon, donnae blame me!"

"Dragons donnae exist." Shae answered back.

"Yeah and until yesterday, Fae didnnae exist either, _Warrior." _

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Far away from the weary traveling companions another soul was awakening to the morning sun's rays. The first conscious though Nessa had was one of being warm and happy, but after she opened her eyes that turned to one of worry and panic. Sensing something was off, she shot up from her restful position and looked about the unfamiliar room.

"Ah, it appears the sleeping beauty awakens." came an all too familiar voice from the bedside.

Nessa turned and faced the man beside her. Lord Colin Dingwall sat in a chair next to the bed and looked her over with smirk.

"What are you doing here?"

Colin raised a brow at her,

"Whatever do you mean, Miss Nessa? This is _my_ room and _you _are in _my_ bed."

The color drained from Nessa's face and she jumped out of the bed like it was on fire. She turned to Colin with anger in her eyes,

"**What **did you _do _to me? Did you drug me? Rape me while I was unconscious?"

Colin's look of confusion deepened as he listened to her.

"Uh….no, I diddnae do anything to you, Nessa. Don't you remember anything from last night?"

Nessa's glare softened as she looked down at the floor, trying to recall the night prior. Suddenly realization hit her,

"Princess Merida is…"

"…dead. Yes. And so is our dear friend Shae MacGuffin, so it seems. That was the news we all got last night." Colin finished.

Nessa snapped her head back up at him and glared hard again at him,

"But that doesnnae explain why I am in your room and your bed."

Colin smirked and shrugged. He looked up at the woman looming over him. She could be very scary, he was sure, when she needed to be, but in that moment she was just adorable.

"I carried you up here after you cried yourself to sleep in my arms. "

Nessa looked indignant,

"I would never…I'm not that weak! I donnae require help."

Now, Colin stood. Her independence, while admirable, had finally reached its peak.

"You were hurting and upset. No one would think you were weak! You'd just lost a close friend. It's natural to be in pain…and to cry. "

Nessa looked away from him not wanting to admit he was right.

"But I shouldn't have…I'm stronger than that."

"If you think you should have been _strong enough _not to cry then how do you expect to relieve pain when you're hurting."

Nessa shot her head up and stared hard at him.

"I wasnnae talking about crying over the princess! Of course that was expected! I was talking about…" she trailed off and blushed.

"The kiss?" Colin asked tentatively.

Nessa didn't look up at him but continued to blush profusely. Colin sighed and gave a small smile. He stepped close to her. He dropped his attitude and his demeanor became serious.

"Okay, _that_ was my fault. I let my…emotions get the better of me. Donnae forget I lost a friend too. The princess and I weren't exactly close, but we were forming a friendship. And seeing you hurting just…" Colin paused and Nessa looked up into his eyes.

"I'm sorry. It wasnnae the proper thing to do, but…" his cheeky grinned returned, "I cannae say that I regret doing it."

Nessa's annoyed glare returned.

"Yes, well…you've impugned my honor! I donnae know what happened to me after I passed out. Who knows what you could have done?" She huffed and turned her back to him.

Colin's grin got wider,

"_Impugned your honor?_ Do you even know what that means?"

Nessa shot him another angry glare,

"Yes. I'm not completely ignorant! Just because I'm a servant doesnnae mean I'm an idiot!"

Colin started to chuckle at her and her glare held strong. Finally, Nessa gave up as his laughter grew. She threw up her hands and started to storm out of the room. Colin righted himself and jumped in her way, blocking the door, and her exit path.

"What are you doing?" she asked him annoyed.

"I cannae let you leave yet." He stated standing in her way.  
She placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side, eyeing him strangely,

" And why not? I have work to do…and I need to change."

"Because you haven't smiled yet today. I'm down to only needing eighteen smiles from you and I'm not letting you go until I get at least one more."

Nessa rolled her eyes,

"Idiot! Why are you so determined to get that total? It's ridiculous!"

Colin shrugged nonchalantly,

"Because I want to marry you." He answered like it was a normal occurrence.

Nessa balked,

"WHY EVER FOR?! I'm just a servant...And you donnae know anything about me!"

Colin stood firm in his spot, but the smirk never left his face,

"Maybe _this_ is my way of learning about you." He countered.

Nessa crossed her arms and quirked a brow at him,

"By keeping me from my duties and being a pain in my ass?"

"Such language, Miss Nessa." Colin teased. "I thought ladies didnnae use such coarse words?"

Nessa shook her head,

"I'm not a lady. I'm a servant in the castle DunBroch to the royal family. And I'm also going to be someone who will be in great trouble if I don't get going."

Colin reached out and placed his hand on the doorframe.

"I still didn't get a smile."

"And you won't. Now, let me by, m'lord."

"No."

"You are acting very childish. I'm not going to let you get anywhere close to your total anyway. You wouldnnae be able to stand being married to me anyway."

"Try me."

Nessa rolled her eyes and looked away,

"Och, you're really not going to quit are you?"

"No, I'm not. You intrigue me, Miss Nessa. " He paused and then dropped the annoying smirk on his face.

"You said before that I donnae know anything about you, right?"

Nessa raised her brow and leaned against the other side of the doorframe with her arms crossed,

"Aye, and….?"

"Well, you're wrong. I've learned quite a bit about you just through watching you. I know that you have a sharp wit and tongue. That you are fiery and passionate and fiercely loyal to those you serve and love. And lastly you're beautiful and very, **very** dangerous to my masculinity."

Nessa slightly blushed and shook her head,

"Moron… I am not beautiful."

Colin raised a brow at her, puzzled,

"And why would you say that? Isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder?" He gently lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes.

"Then you must be blind!" she snapped pulling away.

The seriousness of the moment was lost and Colin broke into laughter,

"Oh now I know I want to marry you, Miss Nessa!" he said in-between laughter.

Unfortunatley for Nessa, Colin's laughter was effective and she found herself cracking a smile as well. She tried to hide it under a mask of annoyance but it didn't work.

"You really are a fool."

His laughter subsided and he leaned in closer to her,

"I'm not the fool here Miss Nessa. You cannae even see how incredible you are. I can see that you are different and I know that that intrigues me about you. So regardless of how you view yourself I find you the most delightful of company, although I know your opinion of me is less desirable."

Nessa felt her face heat up and silence filled the room, as she was too shocked at his statement to make a comeback. Colin took the opportunity to lean down and kiss the tip of her nose.

That pulled Nessa from her stupor and she balked, pulling back,

"REALLY?! AGAIN?" she rubbed her nose and glared up at him.

Colin gave her a lopsided grin,

"Well, I cheated when stole that kiss from you last night so I was going to make it up to you and let you get me back but….since I was able to get you to smile I decided to reward myself."

"You will be very bad for me, Lord Dingwall." Nessa shook her head at him.

"It's Colin and I'm sure I will. I'm down to Seventeen now, by the way."

She gave him an annoyed glance, but Colin just smiled at her.

"And now that all of that is cleared up, I have something I must do."

Before he could leave out the door Nessa stepped in front of him and blocked his path,

"Wait a minute!? You wouldnae let me leave and now you are rushing to go after _that_ spectacle."

Colin shrugged,

"Of course. Since I have _impugned your honor and virtue_ as you so put it, I guess there is only one alternative, then."

"You leave me be and we never speak of any of this ever again?" Nessa hoped.

"Oh, nothing so simple…." Colin answered vaguely.

Nessa stood with another confused look on her face and Colin used the opportunity to kiss her cheek,

"I'm off now, lovely. I'll find you later."

Nessa huffed as he dashed away, but she couldn't help the ghost of a smile that covered her lips.

"SIXTEEN!" His voice called out.

Nessa sighed in defeat,

"He is defiantly going to be bad for me…."

She turned and went on her way.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Kenna sat in a chair in her and Nessa's room, waiting. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for, but she needed to speak to her cousin and the easiest way to do that was to wait for her to come back to their room. She knew that Nessa never returned the night before. She had seen the her and the young Lord Dingwall last night…

She wasn't naïve. The least her cousin could do was tell her face-to-face if she was carrying on a romance with the man! Nessa was the one who had warned _her_ not to get involved with any of the warriors or the lords during the tournaments and here was her cousin **kissing** a man she barely knew!

Kenna sighed to herself. It wasn't the fact that she had seen Nessa kissing the young lord; it was the fact that Nessa hadn't even told her about any kind of attraction to anyone. She had let her own feelings about the young Lord Macintosh be known to her cousin almost the first day of the tournament but Nessa had warned her then to be careful. The nerve she had then to be kissing the young Lord Dingwall the night before. That, and the fact that she never came back to their room last night only confirmed Kenna's suspicions.

She was pulled from her thoughts as the sound of the door opening filled the room. Kenna looked up and saw Nessa enter the room in very clothes she was wearing the evening prior. She looked tired too.

'No wonder…' Kenna thought bitterly.

Nessa hadn't noticed her cousin yet and turned to go to her dresser. Kenna took the opportunity to make herself known. She cleared her throat,

"Good morning Nessa. Sleep well?"

Nessa jumped and turned towards her younger cousin, frustrated,

"Oh, the blazes! You scared the living soul out of me Kenna!"

Kenna ignored the outburst and stood up. She walked over to her bed and sat down on it, with her arms crossed. Nessa shook her head at her and went back to getting clean clothes for the day. Silence filled the room, as neither woman wanted to open up conversation first. Finally Kenna couldn't take the silence any more,

"So, where were you last night? You never came back after Sir Gordon delivered his news…" Kenna trailed off the end of the sentence and looked out the window.  
Nessa looked down at the floor. She didn't want to start crying again. She cried enough last night. She chocked back the lump forming in her throat,

"I…I went to clear my head. I ended up in the stables. I guess I fell asleep there."

Kenna jerked her head sharply up at her cousin, her jaw dropping open. She had just blatantly lied to her! She'd never done that. Kenna felt herself getting upset. She closed her jaw and leered up at her cousin,

"You're lying." She spoke coldly.

Nessa turned and looked at her, confusion on her face,

"What?"

"I said you're lying! You diddnae sleep in the stables, you'd be covered in hay if that was the case." Kenna snapped.

"I cleaned up…"Nessa tried to cover it up but it wasn't any use. Kenna knew she was lying now and she was going to call her on it.

"I saw you last night."

Nessa stiffened and stood up straight at that statement.

"With the young Lord Dingwall."

Nessa tried to deny it,

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kenna."

Kenna jumped up and pointed and accusing finger in her face,

"Donnae give me that! I saw you kiss him, Nessa!"

"Uh, No! He kissed me!" Nessa shot back.

"But _you _let him! And you kissed him back! You've never let any man doing anything like that before! This isn't like you Nessa!" Kenna threw her hands up.

Nessa was getting upset as well, but for very different reasons.

"Donnae judge me, Kenna! I was upset and hurting!" She threw her cousin's question back at her,

"Where were you? After we got the new of Merida's death, you just took off! You didnnae say anything to me, just left me alone. She was a friend to both of us." Nessa choked.

Kenna walked over and threw her arms around her cousin, hugging her tightly.

"I was hurting too Nessa. I realized after I took off that I just left you without a word, so I came back…"

Realization dawned on Nessa,

"…and you saw Colin kiss me."

"I didnnae know what to do in that moment, so I just stepped away and came back to the room. I waited for hours but you never came back so I assumed…" Kenna trailed off and looked away embarrassed.

Nessa's face turned bright red,

"Never assume anything, fair one! It makes an ass out of 'u' and 'me'. I assure you that nothing like that happened Kenna."

"Then _where_ did you sleep last night, Nessa?"

Nessa didn't feel the need to lie anymore so she told her the truth,

"In Colin's room."

Kenna's jaw dropped again,

"But you just said nothing happened!"

"And it didn't. He put me in his bed and he slept in the chair next to the bed. At least, I think so…"

Kenna raised a brow at her,

"You _think_ so?! What if he…"

"He didn't. Look Kenna, he may be a pain in my ass, but I believe that he has more respect and honor then that. At least, I do now."

Kenna noticed the change in Nessa's demeanor,

"Something did happen, didn't it?"

Nessa gave a soft smile,

"Perhaps, but not what you're probably thinking."

Nessa sighed and looked at her younger cousin. She might as well explain what happened last night before more assumptions were made.

"Apparently, I cried myself to sleep last night, in his arms. Colin brought me to his room because he didnnae know where mine was. He gave me his bed and rested himself in the hard chair in the room. He could have forced himself on me, or he could have slept in the bed with me, but he didn't."

Nessa looked away a moment, a red tint flushing her face,

"I accused him of impugning my honor and virtue this morning but he was insistent that he didnnae do anything. And as crazy as it sounds, I believe him."

Kenna was watching years of walls and barriers Nessa had put up around herself fall down, just because of the actions of one young lord. It amazed and inspired her all in one.

"You're falling in love with him aren't you Nessa?" Kenna asked quietly, a small, sad smile covered her features.

Nessa looked up aghast.

"Never! My only purpose in life is making sure you find happiness, fair one! I donnae need to be in love, and especially not with a young clan lord!"

Kenna smiled at her,

"You always worry so much for me Nessa. You never worry for yourself. Let this go where the fates grant it. You never know, we may **both** get what we want, before this is all over."

Nessa quirked a brow at her,

"Perhaps, but my only concern, right now, is you…" she paused a moment and looked down at the ground, "…and attending to my duties for the royal family."

Kenna nodded her head,

"Yes, we have a day ahead of us, and it's not going to be easy for anyone."

Nessa changed in the adjacent chamber and joined her cousin once again. Before they left their room, Kenna grabbed her satchel next to her bed. As they walked out the door Kenna turned to Nessa with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"What is that look for, fair one?" Nessa asked.

Kenna grimaced at the nickname, but answered,

"I know everyone is going to be very solemn today Nessa, but I just have to wonder…"

"Yes?"

"Does the young Lord Dingwall kiss as good as he teases?" Kenna smirked up at her cousin.

Nessa felt her face flush with heat and Kenna took off running down the hall laughing.

"Oh donnae think you can get away that easily!" Nessa shouted after her and took off in the same direction.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Duncan Macintosh had hardly slept the night before. His eyes were heavy and so was his heart. The news of the princess's death resonated hard with everyone. And to learn that Shae MacGuffin had also been killed left hurt in it's wake too.

Even though Duncan viewed him as a potential competitor to the hand of the princess, he had been very impressed with his skills in battle and competition. They may have even become good friends. He would just never admit that aloud.

Today would be a sad day, regardless of whether or not the games continue on. Everyone would be mourning the loss of their princess and her supposed love.

Duncan wasn't sure what he thought of that rumor anymore. In hindsight, it really didn't matter much anymore. If the two were lovers and had run off together, then they met an unfortunate end to their story. If they weren't and the fates were just cruel beings bent on tormenting mortals, then the ending was still the same. Regardless, Duncan Macintosh sat on the top of the stone wall contemplating the events of the past few days. He was lost deep in thought when a voice called up to him from the ground.

"You know the view doesnnae exactly change the higher you are!"

Duncan rolled his eyes and looked down.

"What do you want, Colin? Can't you see I'm thinking?"

Colin nodded looking up at him,

"Aye, I can see that. I see smoke coming out of your ears too. You must be thinking too hard." Colin teased.

Duncan glared at him and jumped down, landing right next to him. Even though Colin was nowhere near as short as his father, both Duncan and Shae had appeared to tower over the other young lord. This made looming over him easy, but not very affective in intimidating him.

"How is it you make jokes on today, of all days?"

Colin shrugged,

"I make jokes everyday. Why should today be any different?"

Duncan sneered at him,

"Show some respect for the dead. Today should be one of mourning and remembrance and here you are acting like nothing has changed."

Colin put a hand up to stop him,

"Oh, but something has changed. And not just the loss of our dear princess Merida and friend Shae."

Duncan gave him a puzzled look,

"What else has changed?"

Colin smirked,

"The balance."

Duncan's puzzlement deepened,

"Balance?"

Colin nodded,

"Yes. While I agree that the loss of Merida is tragic and I will continue to mourn for her and the young Lord MacGuffin, no one can deny that the balance here has changed."

Duncan looked at him unsure,

"I'm still not sure I follow?"

Colin looked up at him and sighed,

"Look, one of the main reasons we have these games is because it used in finding a suitor for the princess to marry and take the throne, correct?"

"Aye, it was. Until Merida changed that." Duncan challenged.

Colin rolled his eyes,

"Oh, donnae give me that! You know as well as I do even after that little incident, our parents have kept pushing us to try and wed the princess. It's not about love or happiness. It's about power."

Duncan looked down at the ground, unable to argue with that point.

"Okay, I agree…so about this balance."

Colin rubbed his chin thoughtfully,

"Well, I was thinking. Spirits preserve Merida and Shae, but without the princess then there is no reason for us to worry about competing for anything. Not that I ever did anyway. Not to sound callous, which I know I do, but I don't mean it in that way…With Merida gone we are not eligible to become the next kings anyway. Therefore you and I are no longer bound to our _duties_ as the heirs to the clans to try to marry the princess."

Duncan scratched his head,

"I still don't know why you are happy about Merida's death?"

Colin snapped his head up,

"Wait a minute! I never said that! As a matter of fact _I _was more her friend then you would ever be…or…have been?...Not sure how to say that the right way…"

Colin crossed his arms and looked over at Duncan,

"Look I didnnae mean I wasn't sad or upset about Merida's death. Or Shae's for that matter. All I was trying to say was that now the oldest son of DunBroch will take the throne, and **that** allows me the freedom to fall in love with and court who I want."

"And why did Merida's death allow that?" Duncan asked curiously.

"Because, until she took a husband, my father would never stop trying to force me to try to marry her. Merida was my friend. Nothing more." Colin paused and looked him the eye. He put aside all of his joking and became serious for a moment.

"Look Duncan, I donnae know where you actually stand on anything, but Merida didnnae really want any of us. Not even Shae. She might have been pulled more towards him, but that may be the fates intervening more than anything. Truthfully, I loved her like one of my sisters and I had hoped we could become closer over the years. But now she's gone. Everyone has to learn to move on, even you. Are you just going to spend your days wallowing and wondering what might have been? Or are you going to find out if it's possible to truly find love in our own time, just like Merida fought for so many years ago?"

Duncan remained silent for a few moments, contemplating Colin's statement. Finally, he looked up at his friend,

"I want to find love in my own time, Colin. But after so many years of being pushed one way, how will I be able to do this? How will I know when I'm truly in love?"

Colin smirked at him,

"You're asking me? You're supposed to be the ladies man here."

"But you seem to already know what you want." Duncan pointed passed him towards the stables.

Colin turned and saw Nessa and Kenna feeding and brushing some of the horses. A warm smile spread across his lips as he watched Nessa and then turned back around.

"Donnae give me that, Duncan. I have a feeling you know what you want too. You're just too afraid to admit it." Colin thumbed back over his shoulder, indicating to the other young women there.

With that, Colin turned on his heel and walked away. Duncan wanted to say something smart back but as he watched Kenna go about her duties something lit inside him.

"Hmm, you might be right, Colin. Maybe I _am_ afraid…"

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

"Honestly Kenna! You can be such a child at times." Nessa huffed at her cousin, blushing slightly.

Kenna donned an innocent look as she continued to brush the horses.

"What ever do you mean, Nessa? I just pointed out the young Lord Dingwall a moment ago, is all." She grinned.

Nessa glared over at her as she shoveled hay into one of the stalls.

"Yeah, donnae play innocent with me. I know what you were trying to do."

Kenna chuckled and continued what she was doing but Nessa stopped and walked over to her.

"Besides, he's not the audience we have now anyway." Nessa jerked her head over to where Colin and Duncan had been standing a few moments ago.

Colin had disappeared somewhere but the young Lord Macintosh stood and watched intently at what they were doing. Kenna felt her face heat up at the sight of him watching her and she turned herself suddenly to avoid him noticing her blush.

"Th…that's not funny Nessa!" Kenna stammered.

"Not so funny when it's you who's being teased is it?" Nessa asked jokingly.

"Alright, alright, I'll drop it."

The two began to work in silence, but after a few minutes the horses began to fidget. "What is wrong with these things?" Nessa asked.

"Something is upsetting them." Kenna backed away to avoid a swift kick by one of them.

Just then, both women heard a faint galloping sound. They looked at each other confused.

"Were any of the horses out this morning?" Nessa asked her cousin.

"None that I saw. Well, except for…"

"KEAVY AND ANGUS!" Both girls realized at the same time.

They ran to the other side of the stone wall and looked down the path from the forest. Sure enough, two horses galloped at high speed through the tournament grounds and into the village proper. Nessa turned to Kenna.

"Quick, go inform Maudie that the Princess's and Queen's horses have returned. This probably just confirms what we were already told. I'll see if I can get them to calm down."

Kenna nodded and took off running to the castle. Nessa braced for the two horses to enter the stables. Keavy slowed to a stop upon rounding the castle gate but Angus started to buck and kick. Nessa stayed back but was afraid he would injure himself or the other horses if he carried on that way.

"Nessa look out!" Maudie yelled from the doorway of the kitchens.

"I'm okay Maudie. Kenna, get Keavy and put her into a stall." Nessa ordered her cousin.

Kenna nodded and did as she was told. Nessa on the other hand was still left with an upset stallion. He was more than twice her size and three times her weight. If something upset him even more then that would be bad for her. Nessa placed her hands up in front of her and tried to calm him down.

"Easy, Angus. Easy boy. No one's going to hurt you. You're home safe and sound now." She spoke gently to him.

His ears flattened against his head but he had stopped bucking around. He shook his mane and snorted at her.

"I know, I know, just take it easy. You've had a long and very tiring journey, I can tell."

Slowly, Nessa reached in her feeding pouch for some oats. She pulled out a hand full and offered them to him. Angus snorted again, but this time he was calming and quieting down. He walked over to her greedily ate the oats from her palm.

Nessa stroked his mane and offered more to him.

"That's it. Good boy, eat up. You must be starving."

Angus was not a small horse by any means, but if he and Keavy had been running at full speed all the way back home, then they were probably exhausted and starving. Nessa led him to an open stall and shoveled hay into it for him. Kenna had already done the same for Keavy.

Nessa turned to her cousin,

"Should we inform the royal family?"

"We already know Miss Nessa. Thank you." Came the regal voice of her majesty, Queen Elinor.

Nessa, Kenna, and Maudie bowed low. A crowd had gathered at the commotion of what had happened and were amazed at the quick thinking of the two servant girls.

Queen Elinor turned towards them and smiled gratefully,

"Thank you both for getting them in safely. Sir Gordon informed us that he saw them trampling through the tournament field. I was afraid they would kill or injure someone at the speed they were going."

Kenna and Nessa blushed as they looked up at their queen.

"I didnnae really do anything. I just did what Nessa told me to do."

"But the two of you were able to keep anyone from getting hurt. That was amazing in itself."

They both bowed to her in unison,

"Thank you, your majesty."

Elinor nodded to them and addressed the crowd,

"It's alright everyone. The danger is passed, thanks to these young women. Go about your way now."

The crowd bowed to their queen and dispersed. Elinor watched everyone leave and then walked over to the stall that Angus was in. She reached over and brushed back a part of Angus' mane.

"If only you could talk, Angus. Then maybe we could know what actually happened." Elinor sighed and bowed her head. Maudie shooed Kenna and Nessa back inside to finish their chores. Before she walked inside herself, Maudie watched Elinor brush back more of Angus' mane and then step away, hinding her eyes in her hands.

Maudie turned her eyes towards the heavens and whispered a prayer.

"Heal her pain, spirits. Heavens knows she doesnnae need anymore heart ache." Then she turned and went inside.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

"So did you hear?" A female voice whispered to her companions.

"What?" Asked a male voice beside her.

"The Princess and Queen's horses returned this morning. No riders." The first woman answered.

"Well, I guess that confirms what we were told about the Princess Merida and the young Lord MacGuffin, then." The man shook his head.

Another servant woman sniffed in disgust.

"If you ask me, I think they deserved what they got from the fates. Running off like that! Isnnae proper it isn't. If they wanted to be together then they should have courted and married. Simple as that."

"You shouldnnae say such things aloud! Anyone could be listening." The man scolded.

Harris rolled his eyes and blocked out the rest of the conversation as he hurried down the hall. It seems that the games had all been forgotten today as the rumors spread of Merida and Shae's death. Hateful rumors began to circulate as well and they made Harris very angry at some of the things the people called his sister. He didn't believe it though. None of it!

He didn'tcare if Angus and Keavy had returned, that didn't mean his sister and Shae were dead!

'But, ' he thought to himself, 'if they weren't dead, then where were they?'

Harris knew he still needed to find that witch! She had to have the answers, he was sure of it! But how would he get out to the forest undetected now?

Harris rounded the corner and entered the bedchambers he shared with his brothers. Hamish and Hubert each sat on their respective beds. They were looking down solemnly, tears still in their eyes.

Hubert lifted his head a little when the youngest brother entered the room.

"Where did you go?"

Harris lifted up a satchel full of apples and bread rolls.

"To get provisions."

Now Hamish looked at him strangely,

"For what?"

Harris looked between his brothers,

"I'm going to the standing stones."

Hubert jumped up from his bed,

"What!? Why?"

Harris set his stance,

"Because I think it's a lie!"

"What is?" Hamish asked, curious.

Harris looked up at him stone faced,

"Merida and Shae's _death. _I donnae think they are dead, and I know that the witch will know what happened to them."

Hamish shook his head,

"Och, are you daft? We all saw Merida's cloak. Those wolves tore her and Shae to pieces!"

Hubert nodded,

"No matter how much you _believe_ they are alive, it doesnnae change the fact that evidence shows that they are gone!"

Harris knew his brothers wouldn't understand. He turned his face away from them in anger.

"Look, the both of you and mum and da might have given up hope, but I WON'T! Not until I talk to the witch. She has to know something! I just know it."

Hamish looked at his youngest brother,

"You really won't quit until you do this will you?"

Harris glared at his brothers,

"Aye! You may think I'm a fool, but I just have to know for sure! I won't accept their death until I do this!"

Silence filled the room as the two older brothers stared down the youngest one. Hamish shook his head and sat back down on his bed, not acknowledging his youngest brother anymore. Hubert held his gaze a few more minutes but then lowered his eyes to the floor. He took a deep breath and looked up at Harris again,

"You do what you think is best Harris." He paused a moment, "But this time, you do it alone. Merida is dead and no amount of wishing or hoping will bring our sister back."

Harris winced at his brother's words, but said nothing. When Harris didn't say anything to him, Hubert also sat back down on his bed and faced away from his brother. Harris stood, staring at the backs of his brothers. Tears threatened to well up in his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

Wordlessly, he grabbed his satchel and rushed out of the room, slamming the door in the process. He made his way out to the stables. Once he was there, he had to use a step box to get up onto Keavy, as she was too tall for him to mount on his own. There weren't many people out so he felt that no one would pay any attention to him. He rode out like he was just going to ride in the fields but when he got close enough Harris stopped and looked around. No one had noticed him! Feeling a spark of courage, Harris guided Keavy across the bridge that entered into the forests. Once he felt he was safely from view, he heeled Keavy's side and set her off towards Callanish.

The Fate's take him! He was going to get his answers if it killed him!

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

"OCH! How much farther is this little spirit going to take us?! I'm getting hungry…" Merida complained.

Shae rolled his eyes and glared at her,

"Would you stop complaining, Merida. It's not as if we've starved the last few days. You can go a little while without a meal. It might be good for you."

Merida stopped and crossed her arms,

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Shae also stopped when he realized what he had said.

"Nothing, Merida. It was a slip of the tongue."

Merida shook her head,

"Oh no, donnae even try that MacGuffin. You think I'm fat don't you?" Merida glared hard at him.

"Well, with all the times you've landed on me, I cannae say you're exactly light."

Merida's jaw dropped open and she began to seethe with anger. However, the twine on her wrist seemed like it could sense the tense situation and began to tighten on it's own. Merida was willing to ignore and endure the pain if it meant telling him off for that remark.

"Now you wait just a minute, Shae MacGuffin! It's not like I've been trying to fall on you! You just happen to be in the way when I do."

"I thought princesses were supposed to be graceful. I think you're too clumsy to be a real princess." He stated as he started walking again.

Merida fumed at him. She briskly walked and pushed past him. That caused Shae to stumble a bit and glare after her.

"Hey, what is your problem, _princess?"_

Merida stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at him.

"I donnae have a problem Shae! Oh, wait. Yes I do…" she lifted her wrist up,

"I'm bound to the rudest, most horrible man in all of the highlands!"

Shae scoffed at her,

"Oh, you think _I'm_ horrible? Well then try being stuck with a spoiled little princess who thinks of no one but herself!" Shae stopped as he felt his anger flare up. He swore he would **never** lay a hand on a woman, and he **never** would, but Merida really pushed him sometimes.

"Do you ever stop and consider others at all, princess? Or do you not view us as human beings and just see us as some sorts of play things you can manipulate to your liking?"

Merida huffed,

"When have I _ever _done that?"

Shae turned away from her, feeling the binds tightening around his wrist. This wasn't helping any and they needed to be following their "guide."

"Look, never mind. Forget I said anything." He pointed to the wisp hovering idle a ways off.

"It's waiting for us."

As he started off again, he jerked his arm forward slightly catching Merida off guard. It pulled her from her stance and she followed.

"Ass…" she muttered to herself as they kept walking.

They continued on in silence, just following the little blue spirit. Merida looked around and tried to see if she recognized any of their surroundings. She noticed as they kept going that the sky began to be blocked from view as the forest trees became denser. The air around them also became thick and the forest itself was deathly silent. Suddenly Shae stopped, causing Merida to crash into his back.

"Something's not right here…"

Merida eyes him warily,

"You feel it too, Shae?"

He nodded,

"Aye. It's like the forest is…dead."

Merida nodded to him but didn't say anything. The little wisp that had been leading them began to flicker and shake. Without warning, it took off, fast, down one path of trees.

Shae tugged at Merida's hand,

"Come on, let's go!"

They took off after the little creature as fast as they could. As they ran on Merida started to feel a burning sensation in her eyes and they teared up a little.

"Shae, smoke." She warned.

"Aye, I can smell it. There's been a fire nearby."

Soon the smell of smoke wasn't the only thing that filled their senses. Merida almost retched at the sickening smell that filled the air.

"Ugh! What is that horrible smell? I've never encountered anything like that before."

Shae clenched his jaw tight.

"I have…" he whispered.

Merida covered her nose with her hand and looked up at him.

"What is it?"

Shae swallowed. His throat was tight with anxiousness. He didn't look at her and kept walking on.

"It's the smell of burning flesh, Merida." He answered.

Merida gasped and Shae pulled her along by her hand.

"Come on. I have a bad feeling we aren't going to like what we find." He said gently.

Unfortunately, Shae was right.

The Fae encampment lay in charred ruins. Bloodied and burnt bodies littered the ground.

"Spirits preserve us…" Merida whispered breathlessly.

"Gods…" Shae muttered, as he and Merida viewed the scene before them.

Merida felt tears well up in her eyes. Just last night all of these bodies were full of life and merriment. Now all that remained was a bloody, broken, and burnt mess.

"Do you think anyone is…still alive?" Merida choked back her tears.

Shae shook his head.

"I'm sure if they are then they're wishing they were dead like their friends."

Suddenly, Merida and Shae both heard what sounded like a raspy gasp for air.

"I think some **is**__alive, Shae!"

Merida took off in the direction of the sound with Shae tight behind her.

'I hope this isnnae trap, for our sake.' Shae thought to himself.

The sound echoed again and Shae reached for the hilt of his sword, but then remembered the fae took it from him last night. If they were in danger, both he and Merida would have to fight without weapons.

"It sounds like it's coming from in there." Merida pointed to a wooden, almost wagon-like structure*.

Unlike the rest of the camp this was still intact and not burnt to the ground. Burn marks had scorched the sides of it but the wagon itself was all right for the most part.

"I think this is one of the caravan wagon's Goshen told me about. It's like a house on wheels." Shae explained as they examined it.

The steps to get inside were folded down and a trail of blood led inside. Merida tried to ignore it as she stepped inside. The sight that greeted her was more gruesome then the one outside.

"KOSHA!" Merida exclaimed and ran to woman's side with Shae right beside her.

Kosha lay there in a pile of dead, gasping painfully for air. A massive stab wound to her stomach ensured her impending death and the burns on her arms and face told of the great cruelty of the attackers. Merida knelt down next to her and tried to brush a bit of hair away from her face.

Kosha gasped again and turned her almost lifeless gaze upon Merida.

"Princess and Warrior safe?" she gasped again, "Good. Magic protected you."

"Shh…Kosha donnae speak. We'll…we'll do…something to help you. You'll be okay." Merida choked on her own words as she began to fight back the tears.

Kosha growled at her,

"Princess, still not learn. Words not help! Princess lying! Dying, I know."

Kosha coughed and blood came out of her mouth.

"Kosha, who did this? Are there any others alive?" Shae asked.

Kosha tried to nod her head,

"Sea Warriors came. Took family. Burned camp. Kosha fight to protect people. Sea Warriors kill everyone left."

"Where are they? Where did they go?" Shae pressed Kosha, but she went into another coughing fit.

Merida snapped at him,

"Stop it Shae! Cannae you see she's in pain! She just needs…"

"You cannae save her, Merida! She's dying! The least we can do is find out who did this and make them pay!"

Kosha gasped for air again and Merida grabbed one of her hands.

"Stay with us Kosha…just a little longer, please…" Merida whispered to her.

Kosha turned her gaze to Merida and weakly nodded. With her free hand she reached up and yanked a necklace medallion from around her neck. She placed it in Merida's other hand. She also motioned to the wall behind her.

"Take this. It protect you. Take Fae weapons too. Strong, good."

She turned her gaze up to Shae and spoke slowly.

"Follow blue flame. It lead you to Sea Warriors. Find family. Save them!"

Kosha turned her head back towards Merida one last time.

"Promise. Promise you save family. Protect them."

Merida knew Kosha was close to her end and she fought back her tears with everything she had.

"I swear to you Kosha, we _**will**_ save them. I swear it!"

Kosha's pained face turned to one of calm and peace in that moment. With the last of her strength Kosha reached over and touched Merida's cheek with her bloodied and burnt hand. Out of instinct, Merida covered it with her own.

"Thank you, princess. Thank you, my…friend." Kosha breathed out. And with that, Kosha was gone.

Merida let her tears fall freely as she laid the Fae princess down. Kosha had called her a friend even though they had only known each other less then a day. It was humbling and heartbreaking at the same time. Merida wept over Kosha's body, unable to stop the pain that she felt.

As Merida wept, Shae knelt near Kosha's body and whispered a prayer,

"Heaven's keep you safe, warrior. May the next life bring no pain or sorrow, only joy and happiness."

Shae then stood up and reached for the weapons Kosha mentioned earlier. Strangely enough, there was a bow and quiver as well as a long sword easily available. He took them and then stepped outside the caravan wagon and waited.

Merida finally calmed herself and stilled her teards. She stood up and went to follow Shae out. However, once she was right in the doorway she doubled over and vomited onto the ground.

Shae knelt beside her and pulled her hair back gently. He knew this must be hard for her. She wasn't used to seeing carnage like this.

"I'm sorry Shae." Merida groaned and wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"I've never seen anything like this. Maybe you were right, I guess I just can't handle it."

Shae patted her back lightly,

"Actually, you're taking this better then most men I've seen."

Merida laughed bitterly,

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Shae watched as she tried to get herself in control again. Merida, for her part, was holding up better than he expected. He had seen things like this in battle and when Vikings attacked his home. He wasn't used to it exactly, but he was more prepared then she was.

Merida shook her head and started to stand up. Shae also stood up and offered her his arm as leverage. Merida looked up at him a moment and then looked away embarrassed.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier, Shae."

He raised a brow at her waiting for her to elaborate, but she didn't. He sighed and spoke,

"Come on, we have to follow the wisps. Kosha said that they would lead us to the attackers."

Merida raided her head up.

"What about Kosha? Shouldnae we at least do something to lay her to rest?"  
Shae shook his head and handed Merida the bow and quiver.

"I'm sorry Merida, but we donnae have the time. If we take anymore time we may not be able to save Goshen and the others."

Merida bowed her head.

"I promised her we would save them. Protect them."

Out of character for him, Shae reached over and grabbed her hand with one of his and used the other to tilt her chin up to his eyes.

"Aye and we will. But we have to go now! There is no more we can do for Kosha here. We just need to honor her last request."

Merida was taken aback by the passion and tenderness in his eyes in that moment. In the short time she had been with him and known him he had NEVER been so compassionate to her. Maybe something _was_ changing. But to whom and how?

Merida steeled her resolve and nodded up at him. She grabbed the bow in a vice-like grip and slung the quiver over her shoulder.

"You're right Shae! We have to get going! For Kosha and the others."

Shae actually grinned when her saw that spark in her eyes again. He sheathed his new sword and began to look for a path away from the camp.

A soft coo caught his and Merida's attention. Both turned and saw the little blue spirit hovering near a path of sorts.

"This must be the way." Merida breathed.

"Aye." Shae nodded.

He turned to the spirit,

"Alright little one, lead the way."

The wisp flickered and then took off. Merida and Shae glanced at each other and then took off as well after the sprite.

Merida unconsciously gripped the medallion around her neck that Kosha had given her.

'I swear Kosha. I will do all I can to save your family.'

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

The skies began to darken overhead as Harris pressed Keavy on towards the standing stones of Callanish. His resolve wasn't going to waver! He had to find out the truth. As he was getting closer to Callanish, he began to notice some drastic changes to the scenery. Thick blankets of fog began to appear almost out of nowhere. The sky darkened even more and started to give way to a light rainfall. He pulled his cloak over his head as he kept riding. Rainstorms were normal in this season, but something still felt strange about this one.

Harris and Keavy pressed onwards. Suddenly, a flash of movement caught Harris' eye and Keavy stopped dead in her tracks. The momentum flung Harris off of her and into a waiting mud hole. He sputtered and spit dirt from his mouth. He turned his head and looked at his mount.

"Keavy! What is the matter with you?"

Keavy snorted and slowly backed away from him. Harris looked at her strangely but then gazed at his surroundings. Massive stone monoliths surrounded him on all sides. Their size was amazing! Harris stood up and walked over towards one. As he reached out to touch one there was another flash of movement. Knocked down, Harris found himself on the ground again. This time he was on his back with a dagger in his face.

Looking up in shock and fear, his eyes were met with two beautiful violet colored eyes and a fierce looking scowl on the girls face. At least he assumed it was a girl. She wasn't human, but was humanoid. Her features were sharp and pronounced but not unpleasant. She even looked to be around his age, maybe a little younger but not by much. Harris had never seen anyone who looked like this, although, many of the folklore told of human like creatures that guarded the forests as it's protectors. It was an amazing thought, but at the moment she had him pinned down and had a dagger pointed at him. Now was not the time for stupid questions and observations.

"Cé go bhfuil tú*? Cad é atá tú anseo*?" The girl being spoke, but Harris couldn't understand her.

He shook his head, hoping she wouldn't kill him.

"I cannae understand you. I'm sorry…" Harris winced, afraid of the reaction that would come.

The girl pulled back slightly, but kept her dagger high. Harris supposed it was for a quick kill.

"Inis dom a bhfuil tú!*" Again she spoke and this time with more force.

Harris wasn't sure what to make of this girl and he suspected the same was true about him from her perspective.

'I figured that if something got me out here it would be a wolf or a bear! Not a pretty girl!' Harris thought to himself and blushed despite the situation.

The girl in question was slowly becoming irritated by his lack of response. She went to press the blade against Harris' throat but a voice caught her off guard and she dropped he dagger,

"Tahvay, STOP!" Ordered someone Harris couldn't see.

'Oh great! Now there are two of them!' Harris inwardly grimaced.

Harris looked over to where the voice sounded like it came from. Harris was shocked to see a weathered old woman with large eyes and a crow and her shoulder coming near them.

"Good evening, little prince. A little far from home aren't we this evening?" asked the old woman as she looked down at him. She then turned towards the girl.

"Tahvay, be a dear and help out guest up. No need for such hostility child. We really need to work on your temperance and patience." The old woman chided the young girl.

"Tahvay sorry, Tearlag." The girl spoke in broken words. The girl, Tahvay, reached her hand down and offered it to the prince. Harris readily took it and pulled himself to his feet. He wanted to ask Tahvay some questions, but he had more important things at this point. He turned to the older lady.

"Are you _the _witch?"

"_**The witch**_? That's a first. Usually, its just, 'Are you a witch'?" the old woman laughed.

"Maybe you should turn him into a toad. Then he would show some respect." Cawed the crow on her shoulder.

"Hush you." Tearlag whacked the bird with her cane.

Tahvay giggled slightly at the two and Harris looked over at her. She caught his gaze and blushed slightly.

"I'll ask you again, young prince. Why are ye here?"

Harris looked up at her and gulped. He didn't think he would lose his nerve now of all times.

"I'm Prince Harris of DunBroch and I…I'm looking for my sister Merida."

"And what makes you think I would know where she is?" Tearlag asked him.

"I donnae know…I just thought that you might...Merida mentioned you in her stories about when mum was turned into a bear. I thought you might know if something happened to her…" Harris trailed off.

Tearlag eyed him curiously,

"Or if _I_ did something to her?" the witch offered.

Harris shook his head,

"I didnnae mean it like that! I just though…"

Tearlag gave a hearty laugh,

"Oh young prince you are even more fun then the princess and the young Lord."

"Shae's with Merida?" Harris interrupted.

Tearlag gave a mischievous smile,

"I would assume so."

The witch then became serious and looked at him with darkening eyes.

"Yes, I do know what happened to your sister and the young Lord."

Harris ran over to her and gripped her arm,

"Please! Tell me, witch, are they alive? All right? Tell me anything!" Harris begged her.

Tahvay moved to pull him off but the older woman stopped her. She gently pulled her arm from his grip.

"My name is Tearlag. Not Witch, little prince. And I cannae tell you where they are because…I have no idea."

"What!?" shouted Harris in disbelief.

"Yep. Sorry. You came all this way for nothing. I cannae help you." Tearlag said nonchalantly.

Harris sunk to his knees and just stared down at the ground.

"Just go home, little prince. Your quest ends here." Tearlag turned from him and started walking back into the forest.

Harris' heart felt heavy. He had come out here on his own to the one person who might know where his sister was and she wasn't any help at all. Maybe Merida was really gone after all. If the witch didn't know then that had to mean…

Harris couldn't stop himself. He silently began to cry and his body shook from fighting sobs.

Tahvay watched him sadly. She walked over to Tearlag and touched her arm gently. Tearlag turned to look at her and saw the sadness in her eyes.

"Come on Tearlag! Don't fall for her sad eyes. They get you every time!" warned the crow.

"Didnnae I tell you to hush?" Tearlag snapped at him. She turned back to the prince who was shaking, still on his knees and crying.

She sighed and walked back over to him. Using her cane, she gently rapped the top of his head to get his attention. Feeling the heavy cane hit his head, Harris looked up. Tearlag leered down at him, although she was not real threat.

"I'll tell you what I can, but not now. I refuse to catch my death of cold out here. Bring your mare and follow us home. I'll try to answer best I can then."

Harris felt his spirits brighten. He jumped up and wrapped his arms around Tearlag in an awkward hug. Tahvay slightly giggled at the look of shock on the old woman's face.

"Okay, okay. You can let go now. Let's get going before it starts falling harder on us."

Harris pulled away and nodded. He ran over and grabbed Keavy's reins. He then followed Tearlag and Tahvay deep into the forest.

Soon Harris found himself in front of the little cottage built into the side of a hill. He stopped and viewed the quaint little house. Tearlag opened the door waved him inside. Harris let go of Keavy's reins and turned to the mare.

"Alright Keavy, I'll be along as soon as I can. Stay under the canopy to keep from drowing." He said to her. Tahvay watched him curiously, but said nothing.

Once inside, Tahvay, made her way over to the hearth, grabbed a kettle, and began to make tea. Harris watched her a moment and then turned to Tearlag.

"What is her name?" he asked quietly, trying to not call attention to himself.

"She **can** talk, you know. Why don't you ask her yourself?" Tearlag nodded towards the girl.

Harris blushed but walked over anyway. Tahvay was so caught up in her tea making that she didn't notice the young prince behind her. He cleared his throat and she turned towards the noise. She looked at him perplexed. Harris gave a nervous wave.

"Hello. I'm Harris. What's your name?"

Tahvay glanced over at Tearlag, her expression a mixture of worry and annoyance. Tearlag just waved her on with a knowing grin. Tahvay turned to Harris with a furrowed brow.

"Tahvay. I say before."

"Oh," Harris looked down, embarrassed, "I guess I didnnae hear…"

Harris then looked up at her with a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

"Please donnae think I'm rude or anything, Miss Tahvay, but…are you a Fae?"

Tahvay looked at him shocked and even Tearlag was a little stunned.

"You know of the Fae?" Tearlag asked him.

Harris nodded.

"Aye. I've read about them in some of my books. They say that they are the guardians of the forests and protect all the creatures that live there."

Tahvay nodded at him.

"True. Protect forest. Stop danger..." the Tahvay looked away sadly, "most time."

"Most of the time?" Harris asked puzzled.

Tearlag walked over to him and placed a wrinkled hand on his shoulder.

"Most of Tahvay's Circle were killed by invaders. Viking's most likely. And she cannae find her family." Tearlag paused. "Well…she did find one…"

Harris gasped,

"Then if Merida and Shae are our there, that could mean…"

"That they could be dead, as well? Yes, I know."

Tearlag sighed and looked out her window at the heavy falling rain. Tahvay brought her and Harris each a cup of tea and then walked away.

"I'm old, young prince. I've been a part of this land almost as long as it's been here. I've been it's watcher, protector, and …mother, if you will. But not something is happening. Things are changing. I cannae feel everything like I used to. " Tearlag said forlornly.

"I think she's just old." The crow called from his perch.

Tearlag shot him a silencing glare.

"No more out of you, thank you very much!" She waved her hand and the crow's mouth was shut tight.

"As I was saying," she turned back to Harris,

"It's like I'm slowly loosing connection to the magic in the land. Like something is severing my ties, bit by bit."  
She looked at Harris with a serious and apologetic expression,

"That is why I cannae tell you where your sister is. My magic connection is being interfered with. Without that, then I'm basically blind to the land and any dangers that threaten it or it's creatures. That even includes my own spells."

"But they may still be alive, even though you cannae…_feel_ them anymore?" Harris asked hopeful.

Tearlag nodded,

"Aye, but there are no guarantees." She motioned to Tahvay, who was sitting in the corner, ignoring their conversation.

"I had asked her father, Goshen, to make sure the princess and young lord were taken care of last night. I've had a feeling that they are going to have many trials that lay ahead and would need a good rest. But over night my connection was severed with the Fae Circle. I sent Tahvay back to investigate, but everyone in the camp was dead. Tahvay found her sister Kosha's body, she didn't find the rest of her family…"

Harris glanced over at Tahvay, a saddened look on his face.

"So there is little hope that the rest of her family is alive?" he whispered.

"Aye. Poor thing was all torn up after she returned. She took care of her sister's body and then came back here. Girl's barely spoken since midday." Tearlag paused and then turned to him,

"That is, until you showed up."

Harris turned and watched the girl in question. She appeared to be sewing something, but he didn't know what. He wanted to go and talk with her but he still had a few questions for Tearlag.

"You said you did know what happened to Merida and Shae, right? Are they in trouble?"

Tearlag shrugged,

"Assuming they are still alive, then they are probably **very** **much** together."

Harris looked confused,

"And what does _that_ mean? When they left DunBroch a two days ago, they hated each other!"

Tearlag gave another mischievous smirk,

"Oh, I got that from my own little encounter with them. But I think that you'll find them both more amiable when they return to DunBroch."

Harris jerked his head around and pointed an accusing finger up at her,

"You DID _do_ something to them, didnnae you?"

Tearlag held the look in her eyes, but said nothing.

"Why won't you tell me?" Harris demanded getting angry with the witch.

Tahvay interrupted him. She walked over and grabbed his hand and led him to a wide bench. She sat down next to him and his anger quickly dissipated. It was replaced with embarrassment and nervousness.

"Cannot tell you. Against rules." Tahvay explained.

"Rules?" Harris looked at her confused.

"Rules of Magic, she means." Tearlag clarified from her place at the window.

"Caster cannot break spell. Not tell to anyone, either. Spell only broken by affected ones. Prince can't know yet. Not time." Tahvay told him in her broken speech.

"But, she didn't hurt them, did she?" he asked Tahvay, but was hoping for Tearlag to answer.

It worked. Before Tahvay answered, Tearlag popped up.

"I've never cast a spell on someone that directly hurt them. Everything I've _ever_ done is to try to teach others lesson's. None of my spells have ever meant to harm! It's not _my_ fault if they donnae learn the lesson before it's too late."

"Mor'du." Tahvay stated quietly.

"You're the one that transformed Mor'du?" Harris looked at the old woman, shocked.

Tearlag bowed her head,

"Aye. Not one of my best moments. I cannae deny I've failed before with some of my _teaching_ methods, but I have faith in the Princess and the young lord. It will not end up in sadness."

Harris didn't look convinced,

"Alright. I'll trust you Tearlag."

He finished his tea and stood up. He turned to the two 'ladies' of the cottage,

"Well I guess I'll be off now. No need in mum worrying she's lost another child too."

Tearlag looked out the window. The rain was still coming down but it was lightening up slightly. She turned to Tahvay,

"Child would you be kind enough to escort the prince back to the outer trees. From there he should be able to make it home all right himself. I hate to send you back out in this weather, but he looks determined to go home and I cannae stop him."

Tahvay quirked a brow at her,

"Could too. Just don't want." She muttered.

Harris blushed,

"Tahvay really, you don't have to go with me. I'll be fine."

Tahvay stood and sniffed his scent. Harris' face brightened more and Tearlag took a sip of tea to hide her smile.

"Prince not strong. Might get hurt. Tahvay go to protect. Fae protect creatures in forest. Even if not a creature _of_ forest."

Harris' pride felt hurt by this,

"Hey! I donnae need a _girl_ to protect me!"

Now, Tearlag interjected,

"That _girl_, is a Fae, has magical abilities and almost killed you earlier, Harris. I'd take her up on the protection offer if I were you little prince."

Harris looked away ashamed,

"I'm sorry Tahvay. Yes, you can go with me…that it, if you still want to?"

Tahvay looked at him and gently smiled,

"Tahvay happy to help."

Tearlag nodded to them,

"Safe travels, Prince Harris. Tahvay please return as soon as the prince is out of the forest. Go ahead and ride the mare. She is _not_ his slave. It will be alright."

Harris looked confused at that statement,

"Slave?"

"Fae do not keep animals as pets, or for riding, or slaughter. They look at is as slavery of the animal. Fae can turn into animals at will, and therefore, have a strong connection to the creatures that dwell in the forests. That is why they don't really eat a lot of meat either. That is also why you are riding that mare out there, too. The young lord had taken her out just a few days ago, correct? Well, when the Fae took the princess and young lord into their Circle, then they had to _free _the horses to allow them safe passage. It' the way of the Fae, plain and simple." Tearlag explained to him as they all walked to the door.

Tahvay walked over to Keavy and petted the soaked mane of the poor mare. Tearlag grabbed Harris' sleeve gently,

"Please donnae tell anyone where I live. I'm not sociable with many people and I enjoy my solitude out here. Also, donnae tell anyone you know about what has happened. Fate likes to let events unfold for themselves, regardless of the outcome."

Harris nodded in understanding,

"You said yourself that there is no guarantee that Merida and Shae are still alive anyway, and besides, even if I told anyone, no one would believe me. I'm just the sickly little prince everyone tip-toes around."

Harris started to turn away, but look back up at Tearlag,

"As for not telling anyone where you are, that's easy too. I promise you won't have any unwanted guests. I just have one question, though."

"What's that?" Tearlag asked him.

"Can I still visit you?"

Tearlag looked taken aback by his request and then smiled in spite of herself.

"Aye, child. You're welcome back anytime you'd like."

Harris smiled and then hugged her again. She shook her head and patted his back,

"Now go! Before the weather turns bad again."

Tahvay was already mounted onto the back of Keavy and she reached down to offer a hand up for Harris. He took her hand and swung up on the mare's back, in front of Keavy.

"Be safe, you two and return soon Tahvay!"

Tearlag called after them as Harris took off on Keavy.

They rode in silence with Tahvay pointing directions every once in a while. Before long they had reached the edge of the forest. Harris could actually see the bridge from the ridge they were on. The night was falling and the lanterns all over the grounds had been lit. Harris knew that tomorrow they would have a ceremony for Merida and Shae's 'passing' but men would be out all night making sure the lanterns never went out. They said it was too help guide the souls to the heaven's after death.

Tahvay hopped off of Keavy's back and Harris followed her. He still wanted to talk to her before she went back to Tearlag's cottage.

"Prince home just over bridge. You safe now. No one attack so close to home." She reached up and stroked Keavy's mane again,

"Keavy Protect too."

"Tahvay go back now." She smiled sadly as she stopped petting Keavy and turned to go back.

Harris reached for her hand and took it.

"Tahvay, wait!"

She stopped and looked back at him puzzled,

"Look…I…I just wanted to say...thanks, for getting me this far. And…I…uh…" he began stammering and couldn't think straight,

"I…I'm really sorry about your sister. If you ever want to talk…" she gave him a small smile as he trailed off. Harris looked down embarrassed and blushing. Tahvay leaned over and kissed his cheek lightly. His face brightened as red as his hair.

"Prince is kind. Maybe we meet again. Soon?"

Harris smiled at her and nodded,

"I'd like that."

"Tahvay must go now, though." She motioned back into the forest with her free hand.

Harris shook his head and let go of her hand,

"Oh right, sorry. I need to get home to." He motioned towards the castle.

Tahvay smiled at him,

"Goodbye Harris. See you."

With that, she turned and morphed into a wolf and ran off into the underbrush.

Harris stood slack jawed at what he had just seen. Keavy nudged him with her nose and he turned to her.

"You're right Keavy, we should get home now. " Harris muttered to her.

Harris grabbed her reins and walked back to the castle, since he was too short to swing himself up without help.

He had promised Tearlag not to share anything he learned with anyone back in DunBroch. He wanted to be able to tell everyone that Shae and Merida were not dead but not even Tearlag could confirm that or not, so he wasn't really lying or keeping anything important from anyone. He would just wait and see what fate had in store for everyone now. He just hoped that whatever it was that destroyed the Fae Circle wouldn't make its way to DunBroch any time soon.

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Harris wasn't the only one having such thoughts. Miles away and trudging through the rain soaked forest. Shae MacGuffin was also pondering such things. His mind had been in a whirl since he and Merida had left the Fae camp. So many questions circled in his mind and for every answer he gave himself another two or three questions would take their place.

What would they find when the wisps led them to their destination? Where was the destination? Were the Sea Warriors actually Vikings, like he suspected? And if they were, would he and Merida be able to keep their promise to Kosha and save the others?

All of these thoughts and more crossed his mind as they pushed on, following their little blue guides.

As they moved onward, Shae noticed that as the sun went down that a thick fog surrounded him and Merida. Merida had been right beside him the whole time. She never fell behind and had stopped complaining of hunger after leaving the Fae camp. Actually, he had noticed Merida had barely said anything to him since then. Not that he really minded. He much rather preferred silence then unneeded talking. But still, her silence was a little unnerving, even to him.

Suddenly Merida stopped dead in her tracks and Shae followed suit, unsure of what she was doing.

"Are you alright Merida? Is something wrong?" he asked her somewhat concerned.

Merida shook her head.

"I remember this place. I've been here before." Merida whispered as she stared at eh giant stone gate in front of her.

She glanced at her,

"When?"

"When mum was a bear." She stated simply.

"Where are we then? I mean, what is this place?" he asked.

"These are the ruins of an old kingdom. We found Mor'du here." She explained. Then she paused, a look of confusion on her face.

"How could the Vikings get here? I thought that was just a lake…" Merida wondered.

Shae pointed out, beyond some distant mountains beyond the lake.

"It must actually be a loch. An inlet to the see is probably past those mountains."

"Well it doesnae matter really. I'll make them pay for what they did to Kosha." Merida started up the hill to the old ruins.

"Wait a moment, princess. The other day you had to stop me from rushing in without thinking things through. Am I to do the same to you now?" Shae grabbed her arm to stop her.

"But…Kosha…and the others…" Merida tried to argue, but Shae held up a hand to stop her.

"Merida, there are probably even more Vikings then there were Raiders. We aren't going to be able to save or protect anyone if we rush in and get ourselves killed. We need to have a plan." Shae said.

Merida sighed and looked up at him. He was right but she didn't want to admit it. She just wanted to make sure she kept her promise to Kosha, but with every passing minute the others were in even more danger.

"Okay, I admit we need a plan, but we donnae even know how many of these _Sea Warriors_ we are going up against."

Shae agreed,

"True. I thought we could do some scouting first. That way we'll know what to expect."

Merida nodded,

"That sounds alright. We may even be able to save the others without drawing attention to ourselves too."

"My thoughts exactly. With nightfall upon us now, we should be harder to detect. Now come on, we need to be quiet and see what's going on."

Shae and Merida quietly made their way up the side of the crumbling ruins. Merida gave a passing glance down into the throne chamber as they moved past it. It was dark and eerie just like before. Darkness was good she supposed. It meant that the Vikings weren't using it either.

They moved past the majority of the ruins without seeing anything. They topped a hill and Shae was able to see the remnants of a tall tower from the castle that once stood there. Beyond that, down next to the water, skiffs were anchored.

Suddenly Shae grabbed Merida by the arms and pulled her down to the ground. She turned to glare at him.

"Shae, what was that about?" she hissed at him.

He shushed her,

"Hush Merida. Donnae draw attention to us." He glances over the wall that they had crouched behind.

"There are at least five men down near the boats in the water. I also see three more standing next to some crates and barrels. That must be their supplies."

"Is that all of them?" Merida wondered aloud.

Shae glanced down at her.

"I doubt it. Sometimes these raiding parties can have upwards to 100 or more men."

"100 or more!?" Merida gaped at him.

"Hush!" he snapped at her. She shut her mouth but fumed up at him.

"So what do we do? We cannae take on a 100 men…especially if they are Vikings."

Shae sighed and looked around. The crumbled wall that they were hiding behind followed a path towards the tower ruin. He could see a window that was opened on the side of the tower.

Shae nodded his head towards the tower.

"Looks like we might have a safer path that way, Merida"

Merida followed his gaze to the tower window.

"Do you think it goes down to the water?"

Shae nodded.

"Aye. Looks like part of the tower was built into the hillside to allow for a way to a from the port without climbing the hill to the castle." Shae pointed out.

"Okay, so lets go. Maybe Keira and the others are inside." Merida whispered.

They moved cautiously behind the wall to the tower. Every so often Shae would look up and try to see if he could see anymore of the Vikings.

As they neared the open window of the tower, a blood-curdling scream echoed from within. Both Shae and Merida looked at each other worriedly and rushed over to the sound from the window, careful to not make any noise.

Shae balked at the sight before him and Merida looked as though she would be sick again.

Inside the room, there lay Goshen tied to a stone table. His body was almost unrecognizable. Burns and sword lacerations covered his body. His face was bruised and swollen and blood trickled from his lips.

A Viking, who was probably the torturer, walked over to him and spoke to him in the Viking tongue. Shae couldn't speak or understand Norse so he wasn't sure what was said. After the Viking spoke, Goshen turned his head and spat in the man's face. Enraged, the Viking grabbed a branding iron and drove it into Goshen's side.

Shae and Merida watched as the Fae King cried out in pain. Shae could feel his anger rising and wanted nothing more then to kill all of those men who were hurting the Fae. There were only two men in the room, but if more were outside the door then he and Merida would be overwhelmed and killed before they could help anyone. What could they do to save Goshen?

Then he remembered! Merida had the bow! Quickly he turned to her.

"Are you really as dead-on with that thing as you claim to be?" He motioned to her bow. Merida gripped the bow in one hand and pulled an arrow from her quiver.

"I suppose you're gonna find out soon." Merida glanced at him.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked him.

He subtly pointed to the man in the far corner next to the door.

"Take out him first. He's the one that will alert for danger before the other one. Then takeout the one by Goshen."

Merida gulped,

"I donnae know if I can do it Shae. You know how much difficulty I had in taking out the raider a day ago."

"You have to Merida" he snapped at her, "Goshen's life is on the line and you promised Kosha you'd protect her family."

His voice softened as he spoke to her.

"Look, it doesnae get any easier. You just have to numb yourself and do what must be done. If you cannae do that, innocents will die."

Merida nodded and knocked an arrow. She sighted the man standing in the far corner. He had a sickening smile on his face and Merida felt herself fill with anger. The man was enjoying this! It sickened her. These men didn't care what happened to the innocent. This was all entertainment to them! They were ruthless killers, with no remorse for their actions. It made her blood boil with rage!

Merida drew a breath and let her arrow fly.

It zoomed across the room and caught the man standing guard next to the door right in the forehead. He crumbled to the ground quickly. The torturer turned at the sound, but before he could utter a word, he too was dead.

Merida and Shae crawled through the window and rushed to Goshen's side. Shae hurriedly untied Goshen from the table. He coughed up blood as they sat him up.

"Stop! Warrior and Princess are in danger. More guards outside." Goshen sputtered on his own blood.

Shae propped him up on his arm and motioned to Merida to check the door. Merida cautiously moved over to the door and cracked it open, careful not to make any noise. She peeked out of the door and spotted two mare men across from the door. She shirked back quickly when she saw another guard walk past the door.

She walked back over to Shae and Goshen. Goshen didn't look good. He was pale for the loss of blood and it looked as though he was having trouble breathing. Merida looked at Shae in concern, but he turned to ask her a question first.

"How many are there?" he asked her.

"I counted three, but there could be more further down or out of view." She answered but never took her eyes off of Goshen.

"What's wrong with him?"

"What isn't, is the better question. I think his lungs are filling with blood. He won't be with us much longer." Shae answered solemnly.

Goshen coughed again and spatters of blood shot out of his mouth and landed on Shae's chest.

"Goshen will die soon. Can't save me Warrior." Goshen whispered. Then he took off his ring and placed it in Shae's hand.

"You take care of family. They in cages down by water. Sea Warriors put them there." His gaze turned to Merida and spoke softly.

"Protect each other. Care for family. Family and love matter the most."

Shae gripped the ring in his hand and stared hard at Goshen.

"Goshen, I'm not going to leave you here. We have to at least try to get you to the others."

"No! It hurt too much Warrior. Allow this King to rest in peace. I go to be with my Kosha…"

Merida gasped,

" How did you know…"

Goshen weakly pointed to her,

"Goshen see medallion around Princess' neck. Kosha would never part with unless…" Goshen tapered off as another coughing fit hit him.

"I swear Goshen, I will avenge you!" Shae growled lowly.

Goshen shook his head,

"No Warrior. Revenge and hate not solve anything. Just leads to more pain. Save others, and then leave. No revenge, please." Goshen pleaded with him.

Shae looked at him sadly but nodded,

"I'll honor your wish, my friend."

Goshen smiled weakly,

"Good. Now I join daughter, Kosha. Peace to you, friends of the Circle."Gohsen whispered and then died.

Merida turned away, silent sobs shaking her body. Shae hung his head in remorse,

"I'm truly sorry we couldnnae save you friend. May your spirit find peace in the next life, Goshen." Shae whispered.

He laid his body back down and gently closed his eyes.

"I don't want to leave him here…" Merida muttered.

Shae looked over at her,

"Neither do I but we have no choice. We have to try to find the others."

"And get out of here without getting killed ourselves." Merida added.

Shae walked over to one of the Vikings that Merida killed and grabbed a dagger from his waistband.

"So, do you have an idea?" Merida asked him.

Shae shook his head.

"Not really. I say we try to catch the two across the hall off guard. We'll watch the door for a minute and see if the patrolling guard walks by. After he's gone, we'll strike the other two and then take him out."

"And if there's more?" Merida looked at him skeptically.

Shae handed her a sword he took from the other Viking.

"Then we hope to the gods that you are just as good with a sword as you are with a bow."  
Shae then sidled up to the door and peeked through the crack. He could also spot the two men across the hall.

"I wonder what they are guarding?" he wondered aloud.

"We can found out after we take them out." Merida muttered.

Shae agreed. He looked through the door again and waited until the patrolling guard walked by.

"Okay on three, we burst open the door. You take the man on the right and I'll take the one on the left."

"But, you donnae have a bow." Merida observed.

Shae waved the dagger in front of her,

"I had another ranged weapon in mind."

Merida nodded,

"Alright then, I'll follow your lead."

Shae readied himself,

"One."

Merida knocked her arrow and took aim in the general direction she would be shooting.

"Two."

Both drew in a long breath to calm themselves.

"THREE!"

Shae kicked open the door and let his dagger fly across the hall. It imbedded itself into the guards stomach and he fell to his knees. At the same time, Merida let loose her arrow and caught the other guard in the right shoulder. He grabbed for it and Merida let loose another arrow. This one caught his temple and he fell.

The commotion caused the other guard to come running down the hall, sword drawn. Shae readied his long sword and blocked the high attack. Merida pulled her own sword since her bow would do her no good at such a short distance. Merida moved quickly and swung her sword wide. The Viking dodged her attack, but he stumbled. That was enough to allow Shae an open shot at the man. He plunged his sword into the man's stomach and the man fell to the ground with a thud.

Shae pulled his sword free from the corpse and walked to the door across the hall.

"Come on. In here before more of their friends show up." He pushed open the door cautiously, sword ready for an attack.

They both sighed in relief to find that the room was devoid of people, except for them and had a window open to the outside. Shae turned and barred the door to slow down intruders. Merida rushed to the window and looked out it.

"It's a ways down, but we could climb down to the water this way if we can find some rope." She observed.

Shae lifted up his wrist to her, out of spite,

"Would this work?" He asked sarcastically.

She turned to look at him and then glared at his attempt at humor,

"Oh, 'HA HA', Shae. Now isnnae the time to be making jokes."

Merida turned again and began looking for some rope or another way down. Shae, on the other hand, was looking about the room in a curious nature. He noticed a large table and makeshift chairs in front of it. Maps and papers littered the table along with discarded weapons and writing tools. On the far side of the table, a stack of letters caught his eye. He couldn't read the Viking language but some of the letters seemed to have a familiar script. He picked them up and scrutinized them more closely.

"Hey Merida, would you look at this and see if you can recognize it?" Shae called her over.

Merida rolled her eyes but walked over anyway.

"I cannae read Norse, Shae, so I donnae know why you…" She stopped as he pushed the paper in her face.

"It isnnae Norse. It looks too familiar. Tell me what _you_ see." He crossed his arms.

Merida took the page from him and looked it over. Slowly, her look of annoyance became one of puzzlement.

"This doesnnae make sense…this looks like…"

"Anglican?" Shae offered.

Merida nodded her head,

"Aye…but….why would the Angles have correspondence with the Vikings? Neither are on friendly terms with each other" she questioned aloud.

"Or our people, Merida." Shae took the letters back and rolled the up. He grabbed a satchel from the wall nearby and put the letters down in it.

"What are you doing? Do you even know what those say?" Merida asked him bewildered by his behavior.

"No. But if they can prove my theory that the Angles and the Vikings are working together then I'm going to take them as evidence."  
Merida crossed her arms,

"That is if we can ever break the spell and get back to DunBroch."

Shae slung the satchel over his shoulders and reached for some rope also hanging on the wall.

"You know, we could just sacrifice one of us to free the other." He offered jokingly.

"Donnae tempt me with that. I may just take you up on it." Merida muttered as she grabbed the rope from his hand and tied it to a bracer by the window. After she had secured the rope, Merida jumped out the window first. As she started scaling down the side of the tower Shae called down to her,

"Should I be worried about my modesty in front of you?"

Merida rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the blush that covered her cheeks.

"Trust me when I say that, _THAT_ is the last part of you I want to see right now." She called back up.

Shae was satisfied with that and followed her down.

Merida reached the bottom of the rope and had to carefully climb the rest of the way down without the rope. It was only another ten feet or so, but the tower was sturdily built and diddnae have many jutting rocks to grasp onto for her descent. She made it to the last five feet or so and jumped to the ground. She landed rather ungracefully, but safe. She dusted herself off and tried to quietly call up and warn Shae of the sudden end to the rope. He saw it and was able to grab onto the side of the tower. Unfortunately for him, his size prevented as easy of a way down. He lost his grip midway and fell the last seven feet.

He grunted and groaned as he sat up,

"How is it that I never get an easy or soft landing when you are around?" he groaned up at her.

Merida raised her hands to him,

"Hey this time it wasnae my fault. You fell on your own."

He got up and dusted himself off too. The quietly made their way around the base of the tower, watching for any sign of movement that might be danger. Quickly they reached the side with the port and snuck behind some crates. Shae and Merida both sized up their odds.

"Okay, so we know that there are five by the boats and three by those crates over there. We donnae know if there are more inside the tower or if there are more out here. So what is the plan?" Merida asked him.

"Well, do you see Keira and the others anywhere?" Shae asked her.

Merida looked around from her hiding spot and scanned the area again. A stack of barrels and crates sat on top of a makeshift table right in front of the docks. A cloth covered the contents of the cages but the wind whipped up and caused the cloth to flap. Merida saw Keira and her sister Teavah huddled together in one of the crates. Merida sank back down and turned to Shae.

"Over right in front of the docks. There's a table there that had Keira and Teavah in cages. I assume Glemtick and Gelphyck are also in cages over there too."

"Alright, now the question is, how do we get from here to there so we can free them?" Shae wondered aloud.

They both tried to look for an easy way over to their destination, but all the shortest paths were blocked. Merida looked up and saw a torch tied to a post. It cast enough light that they could be spotted if they weren't careful, even if it was night. On the other hand, the torch gave Merida an idea.

"A distraction." She whispered.

Shae looked at her puzzled,

"Pardon?"

"We'll create a distraction, Shae. Maybe even two or three. That'll give us time and freedom to save our friends." Merida beamed.

"A distraction with what?" he asked.

Merida reached up and took the torch down, careful not to draw attention to her-self.

"Fire?" Shae asked.

"I'm going to shoot flaming arrows at that tent over there and hopefully catch it on fire. That'll cause the men to go running to put out the flames and give us enough time to sneak over to the boats."

Shae was catching onto the plan by now,

"And then I'll set the boats and supplies on fire as we make out way over to the cages."

"Right. With all the guards putting out flames, that should give us enough time to free the Fae and sneak away." Merida finished.

Shae nodded but then looked down at her arrows.

"How are you going to catch those on fire?"

Merida kneeled down and once again ripped off portions of her underskirts, just like she had done to bandage his hand. She wrapped the cloth pieces around the end of a few of the arrows and then set them ablaze. She then tossed the torch into the water so it would not be seen and to darken their surroundings even more.

Merida stood and took aim at the tent on the other side of the docks past the tower. Shae watched her back and waited. Merida shot the first arrow, but it went wide, however, it caught some of the grass around the tent on fire. Her second arrow hit its mark and it looked as though none of the Vikings noticed were the blaze originated from. Soon the whole tent was on fire and all of the men by the boats and crates were running to put out the blaze.

Merida and Shae moved quickly over to the boats. Shae reached up and grabbed another torch from a post and threw it into the bottom of the closest boat. They ran fast to the other crates and cages and crouched behind them. Shae pulled back the flap of the covering and there sat Keira and Teavah in one cage and Glemtick and Gelphyck in another one.

Teavah saw them first and shook her sister in joy,

"Look Keira! Warrior and Princess come to save us! We safe now."

Keira's tired eyes lit up when she saw them. Glemtick, and even Gelphyck, were grateful to see them too.

"Yay! Warrior and Princess come to save us, yep yep! Get us out of evil place!" Glemtick cried.

Shae tried to shush him,

"Careful Glemtick. We donnae want to warn the whole band of Vikings we are here."

Glemtick tried to quiet down,

"Glemtick sorry! Just so happy to see you!"

As Shae worked on getting Glemtick and Gelphyck free, Merida went to work at busting open the cage with the two Fae princesses in it. Keira scooted close to her and whispered,

"Any others alive?" she asked hopeful.

Merida winced at the question, but didn't shy from it.

"No. I'm sorry Keira. You four are the last of your kind."

Keira slumped back sadly,

"Not last of kind, just last of family…"

Merida was fiddling with the lock, trying to unlock it with a hairpin when Shae walked over and grabbed two different bars of the cage with his hands.

"You're taking too long Princess. We have to go." Shae stated and then pulled with all his strength.

To Merida's amazement, the bars bent apart and Keira and Teavah were able to slip through the new hole.

"I guess your strength shouldn't surprise me anymore." Merida muttered.

Glemtick jumped for joy,

"YAY! Fae free, Fae free! We go now, yep yep!"

He was causing so much noise and ruckus that it drew the attention of the Vikings back over to them.

"Oh no, Shae what should we do?"

Merida asked him.

The Viking pulled back the cloth and saw all the Fae and Shae and Merida crouching there. In rage, or possibly fear, he yelled to his friends.

"RUN!" Shae yelled and everyone scrambled up the hill.

The Fae took off in a flash transforming into various forest animals and leaving poor Shae and Merida to fend for themselves.

As the two of them made their way to the woods, the Vikings were closing in on them.

"Come on Merida, Keep Going!" Shae pushed her on.

He was running behind her, and was trying to make sure she stayed safe. As they ran on, Shae turned and looked behind him. The Vikings had stopped and were taking aim at them with their bows.

"Merida, LOOK OUT!" Shae yelled as a volley of arrows came out of the air.

Shae tackled her to the ground and covered her as the arrows fell. Unfortunately for him, one caught him in the left shoulder and he cried out in pain.

He quickly got up off of Merida and picked her up,

"We have to keep going!" He breathed.

"But your shoulder…" she argued.

"No time! They could have given chase again. Come on!" Shae pressed on deeper into the woods. Minutes passed and soon the only sounds in the forest were those of the animals and wind. Not a single sound of the Vikings chasing them. Merida and Shae slowed to a walk trying to catch their breath, but refusing to stop just yet.

"Do you think we lost them?" Merida asked him breathlessly.

Shae nodded his head and leaned against a tree. He was starting to feel dizzy and assumed it was from running so fast. He rubbed his face with his hand and found it covered in sweat.

"Are you alright? You donnae look very good." Merida asked concerned.

"I'm fine, we just need to keep moving." Shae pushed himself off of the tree and kept walking.

His dizziness was affecting his eyesight though and he kept stumbling around. Merida ran over to him and placed one of his large arms over her shoulders.

"You're not fine, Shae! We need to find a place to rest so I can get that arrow out of you." Merida scolded.

Shae tried to argue with her, but found that talking was becoming more difficult then walking.

Merida was able to find a resting place inside a rock formation near a creek. It wasn't a cave, but it would offer protection from weather and hopefully cover if the Viking's came looking for them. Merida made Shae sit down and rest while she tried to lie out the cloaks to rest upon. Merida gathered up some water from the creek and brought it over to him.

"You really donnae look good Shae. Let me look at that arrow."

Shae didn't say anything, but grunted his approval. Merida took a spot behind him and snapped the end of the arrow off. Shae grunted and leaned foreword in pain.

"Sorry. It looks like its in too deep to pull out…" She paused, "I'm going to have to try to push it the rest of the way through…"

Shae nodded, but stood suddenly and removed his kilt tie and his leather over armor. He even untied his tunic and pulled it off shoulder. Merida blushed at him in his state of undress.

"No sense in trying to push it through three layers of clothing too, right?" He answered her unasked question.

"This will make it easier." He whispered.

Shae wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but he knew they had to remove that blasted arrow.

Merida nodded and placed her hands in the right positions on his back. She looked down at his strong back and almost gasped at the scars and lacerations she saw there. She knew that he was a warrior but surely he would have so many scars already, he wasn't that old yet. She shook her head. This was no time for idle thoughts, she had to get the arrow out and she knew this would be excruciatingly painful.

"This is going to hurt." She warned.

He nodded in understanding and braced for the pain. He took a deep breath of air and waited. Merida gripped the arrow and pushed with all the strength. Shae screamed deafeningly in pain. It was so loud it almost came out like a roar. But it was a success! The arrow's head exited out the other side of Shae's arm. Merida walked around and grabbed it and yanked it the rest of the way through. Shae winced and groaned in pain again.

Merida quickly grabbed a piece of cloth that she had, once again, torn from her underskirt, and pressed it into the wound.

Shae looked into her eyes. His green emerald eyes met her sapphire ones and he gave her a small, weak smile.

"Thank you." He croaked out.

She was taken aback by the softness in his gaze and blushed, dropping her gaze to his strong chest,

"You're welcome, Shae. I'm sorry I had to hurt you."

Merida expected a sarcastic remark or something to that effect, but there was nothing that followed. Suddenly, Shae's massive body slumped back lifelessly and his head fell over to the side. Merida immediately started panicking.

"Shae! Shae wake up! This isnnae funny!"

She shook him hoping to see him pop open an eye or smile. Anything to tell her it was a joke. But it wasn't. Merida felt her heart begin to race as her fear set in. She grabbed the arrow and looked more closely at the head. Barbed ends. It was poisoned! Merida scrambled to his side again. She grabbed his noninjured shoulder and shook him as hard as she could. Tears were beginning to fall down her cheeks. She had already seen two friends die today; she didn't want to see a third one!

"Come on Shae! WAKE UP! PLEASE!" Merida called out in vain.

Pain shook her to her core and she threw herself on his chest and just sobbed.

"Please…don't leave me…"

**-|} ****-[(+)]-****{|-**

Another Cliffhanger! (Please do not kill me)

Okay, so after almost a 3 month absence, I am posting my longest chapter to date! Grand total for story chapter (not including authors notes): 41 pages and 19,624 words for Chapter 10 of "The Ties that Bind"

Yay me! Or boo me if you got extremely tired of waiting…

Anyway, I just have to say a huge, Huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, followed, and whatever else you can do to a story.

I have to give a HUGE Thank you to my new Beta gargoylelover for taking time out of her busy schedule to edit my story for me. I've found, I can type faster if I don't focus on fixing all my grammatical errors while I type.

So a huge thank you to her and if you can go to her deviant art page and thank her as well, I know she would love it!

I also want to give Shaherzad1 to her piece 'Bound' which is a art piece based off of a scene from chapter 9. Oh, it is so awesome no words can describe it! Really, if you're reading this on you should really check out deviantart too. Lots of awesome artists (Like Shaherzad ) and great gallery pieces too. You should seriously go over and check out her whole gallery, she is an incredible artist and I'm not just blowing smoke.

While you are there you need to check out yuramec's gallery too! Another awesome artist that does amazing Brave work! Just check out her whole gallery and be amazed at the pure awesomeness!

To coldblu: I actually missed hearing from you! I'm glad you're still reading. I know my posts are few and far between but I always value hearing from you.

To Insanely Irish: Sorry about the misspelling of Clare. I wasn't trying to offend. I'm glad that you like my little bits of Irish here and there. If I every say anything offensive trust me it's not intentional. I don't speak Irish, or any other language besides English myself, so I have to rely on Google Translate. If that thing gets it wrong, then I don't know (Sorry)

To mollybug: (And Anyone who is wondering)…Sir Gordon is an actual character from the film. He's the character that John Ratzenberger voices in the film. He has like one line right before the Lords and the clans enter the main hall. He's supposed to announce their arrival but he gets hit with a door to quickly. The character is named Gordon in the ending credits. I just called him 'Sir' because I'm not exactly sure what his title would be… I made him the captain of the guard, although I doubt that is what he actually is. If I'm going be what his position is based on the movie, he'd probably be closer to a Chamberlain (by title). Because the Chamberlain was usually the one who was responsible for announcing royalty and honored guests at parties and gatherings. …Anyway in my story, he's captain of the guard and thus I give him the title 'Sir'. Hope that clears it up.

To everyone else: Thank you so much for your reviews and your encouragement. Please believe me when I say, I will not stop writing this story until it is finished. But please note, I am an adult that has a full time job and other commitments that take up most of my free time. Updates will either continue to be really far apart, or start becoming extremely short…not sure which yet.

Again, I thank you all and your words mean a lot to me. I'm glad that people are reading and are enjoying this grand adventure that I'm taking you on. There is much more to come so this in not the beginning of the end…just the beginning of the middle

Oh and those phrases that Tahvay says earlier are supposed to be:

"Who are you?" and "What are you doing here?"

(Irish if you would be so kind as to verify that, I would be grateful!)

One more thought:

Harris is supposed to be getting/have a crush on Tahvay. I just have to know…Is that okay? I mean, he's ten, but he's also more mature then his brothers, but is ten when boys still think girls are icky?! I'm a girl and I started getting crushes on boys when I was like eight, but I don't know about little boys. Could some of my male readers give some input please? I would appreciate it.

All right it is now 3:36 am where I am located and I am very tired. I hope that you all enjoy this latest installment and have a great rest of the night and day!

Peace and Blessings Upon You


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